In order to utilize the patient portal, patients must first have an account. Please click the article on how to give patients access, if you haven't already done so.  The patient portal is very mobile friendly. Patients can use the patient portal on any device without having to download a separate app. Through the patient portal, patients can keep track of their appointments, schedule new appointments, pay their bill, fill out forms and other documents, and send secure HIPAA complaint messages, and even upload documents for their clinician to view. 

Patient may have issues logging into their patient portal. Patients may have entered the wrong password or using their email address instead of their chosen username. They may even attempt to reset the password with an email address that is not associated with their account. 

Usernames are deeply tied to audit files and identify the user or patient. A patient's username is not their email address, but is associated with the email address on file. 

To help them find their username, go into the patient chart of the patient you are trying to help. Click on the demographics tab if it is not already displayed.  A patient's username is listed at the bottom of the page. 

1. Patients will want to make sure they have the correct username. Provide it to them including correct spelling. 

2. Provide them with the correct email associated with their account. Include correct spelling. 

Though unlikely, a patient may also have an email with aggressive spam filters that send notifications to spam (ex. @Mac.com). Make sure to have patients check to see if practice notifications aren't going to their spam folder. We use a "transaction email server" that makes sure emails do not get flagged for spam. Have patients navigate to their spam folder, if so, and mark the message as 'not spam' and 'white list' by adding your practice notifications to their address book. 

In some cases, patients may want to change the email address on file associated with their account. If the email shows as "pending", it means the patient started to change their email address and never finished the process. Until the new email address is verified, the original email address will still be listed as the email associated with their account. 

 

Have patients forgotten their username or password? Patients can recover their username or password reset on the patient portal utilizing the verified email address listed on file. If you wish to provide assistance on helping them figure out their username or password, please see the above Login Help information for assistance.

Patients can then fill in their email address on file and have their password link sent to their email address. Patient's should receive the link in a few minutes. If they do not have the patient check their spam folder.

Once patients reset their passwords, they will be prompted to login with their username and new password.

One thing to consider is that patients have two (or more) accounts. This can happen if the practice sets the patient up for an account using one email address and the patient set up an account using a different email address. Be sure to search your patient list for any duplicate accounts to remedy this. 

In addition to having patients fill out their forms online through the patient portal, you can also use the "hand off" feature to allow patients to fill out forms on a device you own in the office. 

In some cases, patients try to 'create a new account' using their current email, rather than resetting their password. Patients will be notified that they already have an account associated with that email address. If a patient or staff member changes the email address associated with the account, the patient will get a notification in their new email and will have to verify the account in order for it to be active. Once a patient verifies the account, they have then confirmed the email change. 

Owners of practice accounts are also administrators. Administrators can set up practitioner and staff accounts within the practice. Administrators will give the practitioner or staff a username and a password in order to set up the account. From there, practitioners can go to the login page and enter the username and password given. Logging in will "verify" the account. Without logging in to verify the account, a practitioner or staff member wouldn't be able to reset their password. 

If a practitioner forgets their username, Administrators can navigate to the staff page and "edit" a practitioner to retrieve the username previously provided. They can also hit the "change password" button to retype the password in case it was mistyped.