Can the patient portal interface with my personal practice website? 

No.  The Patient Portal is housed on the Valant website for your patients to access. This is so the information that you post and the data that they enter is fully integrated with the EMR. You can provide a link to the patient portal on your personal practice website, but it will be an external link taking those who click on it to a separate website. Your practices specific URL can be found under Persons and Institutions | Practice | Patient Portal

What does the Patient Portal do? 

• Displays contact information about the practice for patients to view.
• Allows forms to be uploaded into it, so that patients are able to view, print, and complete before coming in for the session.
• Allows patient to gain access to copies of Continuity of Care Documents (CCDs), which will display information about the patient’s diagnoses, allergies, medications, and vital signs.
• Displays any upcoming scheduled appointments for the patient.
• Allows patient to enter, view, and change demographic information.
• Allows the patient to enter, view, and change insurance information.

Will I be able to communicate to the patient through the Portal, and vice versa? 

Secure messaging is available within the patient portal system. You can control whether patients can initiate messages to you, or if they can only respond to messages that you first send to them.

What happens if my patient loses their login information? 

The patient is able to reset their own password when trying to sign into the Portal, however, the provider is also able to initiate a password reset within the patient’s demographics section of the EMR. When this is attempted by the patient, they will need to answer their three security questions in order to reset the password. When performed by the provider, there are two options available for password reset:

A. The system will send out an email to the patient to reset their own password.
B. The provider is able to manually create a new password for the patient.

Is there a way to check if the patient has ever successfully created their Patient Portal account? 

There is a “Validate Account” button that will allow the provider to check on the status of the account to see if it has been successfully created or not. If it has been successfully created, the provider will receive a confirmation notification that it is ready for use. If it has not been successfully created, the provider will receive a notification that it still needs to be created.

Will I be able to upload forms, instruments, or homework assignments into the Patient Portal for the patients to complete before next session? 

Yes.  Both the staff and the provider are able to upload any desired documents into the patient’s Portal account, which will appear in the “Forms” tab of their account to download. The staff and the provider are also able to assign specific measurements for the patients to complete online prior to session (i.e.: GAD-7, PHQ-9, etc). Once completed, the measurements will carry over into the patient’s chart for the provider to review. Completed non-measure documents (from the "Forms" tab) must be transmitted to the practice using different means (e.g. hard copy, secure e-mail,or removable storage media (flash drives).

Will the information (i.e.: demographic information, insurance information) patients enter into the Patient Portal be saved directly into the EMR system under the patient demographics section? 

No.  Patients can submit changes to their demographic information, but the information must be reviewed and confirmed by a provider or office staff member before being updated within the system. Certain information will not be updated within the system, even though patients can submit it through the portal.  Any insurance information must be manually entered by a provider or office staff member, based on what the patient submits.

Will patients be able to update or change existing demographic information from Patient Portal?  Is there a way to also see when information has changed, and what was changed? 

Yes.  The patients are able to submit changes to existing or new demographic information from the Portal. When the patient makes any changes to their demographics, the provider will have the option to view and update the data within the Valant system.

Are my staff able to access the Patient Portal settings as well? 

Yes.  All users on the account will be able to gain access to the “Portal” tab.

Will the patients need to download Silverlight or complete the web configurations in order to gain access to the Portal? 

No.  The patients will not need to do anything special to their web browser or install Silverlight in order to gain access to it.