The advent of online patient portals is evidence of major changes in health care delivery.

Not only does the technology promise easier communication between patient and physician; it also aims for greater involvement of patients in their health.

Cape Fear health care institutions are moving quickly to provide secure online connections that allow their patients to make appointments, email their physician, check the results of tests, learn more about their medical condition and request prescription refills.

“Our goal is to engage patients and their families, reduce costs, improve care and, ultimately, to have more face time with patients,” said Dr. Tad Dunn, chief medical information officer at New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC).

NHRMC is rolling out My Chart, a patient portal function tethered to Epic, the medical center’s new electronic medical records system.

Three NHRMC physician practices went live with My Chart in November. Another 15 added My Chart in June. The emphasis, Dunn said, is to make the service available to outpatients. The technology now serves 5,880 patients of NHRMC practices and clinics.

Brunswick Novant Medical Center is also rolling out the Epic electronic medical records program and My Chart as part of the entire Novant Health system’s conversion. Like NHRMC, Novant’s early adopters are physician groups.

“Most patient-physician interaction takes place in these practices,” said Amy Myers, a spokeswoman for Brunswick Novant. “Three Brunswick Novant physician groups have converted so far, and all groups system wide will have converted by next summer.”

Next summer is also the patient portal implementation goal for Dosher Memorial Hospital in Southport, said Kirk Singer, the hospital’s spokesman.

“Over the next several weeks, Dosher will begin implementing patient portal capabilities,” he said. “Initially, this service will be offered at two hospital-owned physician practices. In the near future – probably in the first year – patient portals will be implemented hospital-wide for inpatients and outpatients alike.”

Wilmington Health piloted patient portals in July and expects they will go live “broadly” in two months, said Dr. Jonathan Hines, the system’s chief medical officer.

Once users are comfortable with the patient portals, said NHRMC’s Dunn, “This will be a different place.”

He pointed out that many patients already research their medical conditions online and increasingly understand they must take more responsibility for getting and staying healthy.

My Chart has a Spanish version, and NHRMC is seeing significant use by its Hispanic patients. There is also a proxy function that gives a patient’s family member access to the portal.
Dunn said some physicians were leery of patient portals, fearing “exploding inboxes.” But so far, the medical center has found that, on average, patients send an email to their physician “once every four or five months.”

It’s not just health care providers that are offering patient portals. At least one local health services agency is preparing to launch the service as well. Through its GE Centricity Patient Portal, Wilmington Health Access for Teens (WHAT) will enable its patients to interact electronically with their health care providers in a secure way. The service will be integrated into WHAT’s electronic medical records system later in 2012.

“WHAT believes that with its patient population being adolescents and young adults – the majority of whom grew up with the Internet – the patient portal will serve as a valuable tool for them to learn how to be responsible health care consumers later on,” said Jill Boesel, WHAT’s development director, adding that the agency expects the system ultimately to lower costs, enhance patient communications and optimize provider productivity.

Dunn said the future will bring access to MyChart via smart phones and information sharing among health care providers.