Patients who will be moving before treatment completion can be enrolled by their clinician into Health Network to connect them with care at their next destination. Health Network provides virtual case management for migrating patients moving to any location in the world – but the first step is to enroll the patient.
Presently, to enroll a patient, clinicians complete a paper form and fax it to our Health Network team, followed by faxing medical records. Despite few advancements in the technology over the decades, fax machines continue to be the standard method of transfer of sensitive patient information because of its HIPAA compliance. Fax machines, however, have numerous downsides. Oftentimes, Health Network Associates report that faxes come through too dark or too light; only certain pages are transmitted; partial faxes are received; or the fax fails to transmit at all. Additionally, fax machines may be in public areas or areas not sufficiently protected from the public, which may lead to poor protection of patient information. Handwritten notes that are transmitted by fax are sometimes hard to decipher. E-faxes, while an improvement, have many of the same issues: “We still get phone calls saying, ‘that fax didn’t go through’ – even if it’s electronically sent,” noted Saul Delgado, Migrant Clinicians Network’s Health Network Data Specialist. “That’s where the portal comes in.” For the past three years, Delgado has turned his attention to building a HIPAA-compliant, easy-to-use interface for clinicians to enroll patients into Health Network that bypasses some of the problems with faxes. His efforts resulted in Migrant Clinicians Network’s new Health Network Patient Portal.
Once a clinician creates an account, they can begin enrolling patients through the portal. “It’s done through a workflow; it takes you step by step through what you need to fill out,” Delgado said. Clinicians fill out a patient’s information and complete the consent form, upload medical records, and then the process is complete. Clinicians have several options to submit the consent form. If the clinician would like to use a paper form, the portal guides the clinician to the Health Network webpage on MCN’s website where they can download and print it. A photo of the completed form can be uploaded to the patient file. For those completing enrollment with the patient through the portal, the patient can e-sign the document within the portal, after which the clinician will upload the page into the patient’s file. “When nurses go into the fields, they can take a tablet and enroll the patient through the tablet instead of a paper form that can get lost,” added Delgado, increasing efficiency and reducing paper burden.
Health Network Associates receive an alert once an enrollment is submitted and can immediately call the patient to begin the work to connect that patient to care. If an enrollment is missing key information, Health Network Associates can also send out a request for patient records. “Once a nurse [or enrolling clinician] sees that request, they can go into the portal, look up that patient, and upload the records. They don’t have to print out records or fax us – they can just get the notification, go in, and upload,” Delgado said.
The Health Network Portal is currently in beta testing, with a small number of health center users, so Delgado can identify and correct any road bumps in enrollment. Currently, he is seeking clinicians who are willing to beta test the Health Network Portal with their patients. After gaining more users, Delgado plans to create training videos to further create a user-friendly experience for clinicians. If you would like to use the portal, please contact Saul Delgado for more information: sdelgado@migrantclinician.org.
