Memphis-area hospitals are encouraging patients to become invested in their own health – an effort embedded in Stage Two of the Meaningful Use Initiative governed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“How we engage with our patients is changing in the healthcare industry,” said Reginald Coopwood, MD, president and chief executive officer of Regional One Health. “The days when our responsibility to the patient ended at the point of discharge are gone. Now, hospitals are involved in the health of the patients at every phase of their care, including after they go home.”

As healthcare moves from episodic care to preventative care, initial evidence is showing that active engagement results in better outcomes.

“In this healthcare culture, the patients are involved with their clinical teams to participate in their care and recovery,” said Marilynn Robinson, senior vice president at St. Francis Healthcare. "This raises awareness of things they can do to improve their own health. It benefits all, as there is a stronger, more interactive partnership between the hospital and the patient.”

In today’s era of mobile devices, patient portals are the baseline technological tool to reach patients and facilitate this type of partnership. Regional One Health launched its portal last fall.

“Currently, patients who sign into the portal can view discharge information and lab results,” said Angie Golding, director, corporate strategic communications at Regional One.  “Additional features are being added, and in the future, users will be able to see their visit notes, request appointments and prescriptions and send messages to their provider.”

At St. Francis, every patient is asked to sign up for the patient portal, where he or she can access their medical records. The hospital system is marketing its screening mammogram services through the portal and encouraging patients to use it to make appointments for those mammograms. In the future, the plan is for patients to make their own appointments for hospital outpatient tests through the portal.  

Methodist has two portals for two areas: the inpatient/ambulatory acute side and primary care practices. Each has standard features providing the opportunity to connect to the patient’s doctor and ability to view lab results as well as access electronic health records. Le Bonheur has these features as well. Eventually, Methodist sees adding telemedicine elements to portals to be able to monitor chronic conditions, among other features.

 “You are going to see an evolution over the next few years,” said Ed Rafalski, senior vice president, strategic planning and marketing. “There will be functionalities that will

allow a person who wakes up with a sore throat to call in and speak with their physician online. People will be able to transmit electronically through a portal on a regular basis through a Bluetooth device or smart app — from diabetes management and monitoring glucose to ordering contact lenses.”

Baptist OneCare MyChart has been heavily marketed since it went live locally in the beginning of 2014. It has about 75,000 users, and in January of this year there were 1,299,000 hits. It now is being expanded throughout the regional system.

“It’s the largest project in the history of Baptist,” said Beverly Jordan, vice president and chief clinical transformation officer. “We sought an integrated healthcare record.”

MyChart is available via PC or smartphone. Patients can message their physician or nurse practitioner, schedule appointments, see test results and access their medical records. Additionally, they can request medication refills, access patient education information and arrange relevant lab work by chronic medical condition.

Chris Hopper, director, Baptist OneCare, points out that sickness does not always necessitate a visit to a physician’s office, especially when there is a shortage of primary care physicians nationally.

“Getting an appointment is difficult,” he said. “MyChart has eased a lot of that anxiety. We hear from numerous patients about the ability to contact their doctor more (frequently). Lots of times you go in for an appointment and there are questions you forgot to ask. With this app, you can reach out to that physician at any time or to his or her staff to get answers.”

Both Baptist and Methodist have visions for patient engagement that go beyond the technological side and into the personal touch side. Methodist points to its “Project 38109” efforts in south Memphis to help people gain access to healthcare and put them in appropriate levels of care, applying some of the principles used in their 500-church congregational health network efforts. The 38109 project is funded by Cigna.  Methodist officials hope they will find additional corporate sponsorship for other areas of the city.

“The medical home example is the right thing to do and get them connected with a primary care physician,” Rafalski said.

Baptist emphasizes teaching patients while in the hospital so they know how to take care of themselves or their loved ones when they go home. Patients entering Baptist clinics or hospitals should be educated about their medications, their diseases, their activity level and their discharge plan.

“Our tag line now is ‘Get better.’ It shows an action verb. It’s not sitting around passively, waiting for something to happen,” Jordan said. “The healthcare system is reaching out to our community, and our community is reaching out to us. That’s the work we want to do better.”