By Gabriella Brown
Newsroom@DominionPost.com
MORGANTOWN — Since the creation of its online health care management system over a decade ago, WVU Medicine worked to constantly tailor it to fit the needs of all patients.
The online system, known as MyWVUChart, provides a free, accessible way for patients to pay medical bills, schedule appointments, view their medical records and test results, and refill prescriptions.
“We have four focus areas, and first is automating the whole process,” said Jim Venturella, chief information officer for WVU Medicine. “If you think about from the point of time you want to schedule an appointment all the way until you actually arrive at the clinic, we have part of that process automated, and we are working to fill in the gaps.”
Although only patients who register with MyWVUChart can access all the current and upcoming benefits that come with it, new patients at WVU Medicine can still use the online system to schedule initial appointments.
After the initial visit, anyone who has been seen by a physician at WVU Medicine can then register for an account by visiting MyWVUChart.com and obtaining an activation code or requesting a code while at their appointment.
“When patients show up in the clinic, if they don’t have an account, we can send them an instant activation code through a text message, and they can basically go through a couple steps and within 30 seconds they can have an account,” Venturella said. “We are doing a lot of activities to try and help improve that, and we have made it easier for patients to sign up.”
All the services provided through MyWVUChart are centered around patient convenience and efficiency in communication between patients to physicians. One feature that reflects this is the online messaging system, which allows patients to message their primary health care physician with any questions or concerns. The physician can follow up with suggestions.
“Generally speaking, it keeps those patients who wish to be engaged a little bit more connected to the practice with respect to communication,” said Dr. David Rich, chief medical health officer. “It’s another way for providers to communicate with patients so that the provider doesn’t have to call and catch the patient at the right time.”
Venturella said communication is key to the success of patient recovery and self-care management. He said WVU Medicine plans to continue expanding on this element of the system beyond just patient to primary health care physician communication.
By late summer or early fall, Venturella said, WVU Medicine plans to launch its first pilot that will allow patients with certain conditions to communicate with specialists.
“The other area we are working on expanding functionality is for patients with chronic conditions, since they require more communication and management,” Venturella said.
Although it is still in its initial stages of development, patients with MyWVUCharts will eventually be able to have a doctor’s visit without leaving home.
“The other area that we are expanding in the portal is for e-visits and video visits,” Venturella said. “It’s basically a two-way exchange online of you describing your symptoms and reviewing your information to provide some recommendations for care, and then taking that a step further is the actual video visits.”
Before this feature can be added to the online system, details such as billing procedures for video calls are being worked through. Venturella said they are working through all scenarios and regulations to ensure once launched the video visit system will be functional and useful for patients.
MyWVUChart can also be beneficial for monitoring and assisting with health care plans of loved ones.
A caregiver for someone such as a family member can be granted proxy access by the account holder. This allows them to monitor prescriptions, physician notes and general health care plans.
“You might not always be there for the physician visit, but you can see all the information online,” Venturella said. “You can do that for your parent, you could do it for your children, you could do it for your spouse or for anybody, if that person gives you access.”
The main goal for the MyWVUChart system is to make managing patients’ health as quick, convenient and accessible as possible for all within the WVU Medicine health care system. However, the patient decides whether or not they register for the system.
“It has the potential to make visits more efficient, but the trick with that is making sure we have patients that are already on MyWVUChart before they come for a visit,” Rich said. “That is why we want to increase adoption of MyWVUChart across the health system.”
TWITTER @DominionPostWV.
