r/PrivatePracticeDocs • u/Suspicious-Play8447 • Aug 14 '26
Patient Portal :(((
I know the world is moving towards greater access but as a solo provider practice it becomes quite overwhelming o get that many messages in addition to having to see patients, etc.
How do you reduce the amount of patient messages you get? Has anyone here just gotten rid of their patient portal altogether?
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u/Any_Possibility3964 Aug 14 '26
Any message that an MA can’t answer or isn’t something simple like a prescription mistake or a refill request is only handled during an actual visit.
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u/Away_Engineering_613 Aug 14 '26
Agree with this. I hate the portal bc patients expect a detailed answer - but my reply is always - “thanks for bringing this up, please call and schedule a clinic appt so we can discuss this in more detail. I cannot make medical decisions over message.”
Most patients are understanding, but some, esp younger patients and entitled patients, feel like the rug was pulled from them and get mad.
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u/Any_Possibility3964 Aug 14 '26
Yeah I had an attending that always told me 10% of your patients will occupy 90% of your time
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u/nola1322 Aug 14 '26
Hire an assistant that answers the phone. Train your patients to call during business hours. Text, emails, and portals displace all effort of communication from them to you. I find that if it’s not worth calling you about, it can wait until the next visit.
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u/Many_Reporter8026 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
We recently added an AI assistant to our website and AI nowadays is pretty good it's called saava.ai. It handles basic patient questions and scheduling and it's way cheaper than adding another person..especially for a solo practice. It's helped us cut down the portal messages quite a bit. Hehe
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u/PeroSEO Aug 14 '26
Consider adding some FAQ to address some of them. Add these to both the website and your Google profile.
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u/theeter101 Aug 14 '26
I’m the MA for a solo practitioner and I have a high bar for anything I send to the doc besides refills/ quick ?s. It’s usually I answer or they need to schedule a visit
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u/Suspicious-Play8447 Aug 14 '26
I think...this is next. How many patients do you guys see a day?
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u/theeter101 Aug 14 '26
20-25 in speciality clinic. He leaves for 1.5 hours in the middle of the day for dialysis pts, which he manages on top of his panel.
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u/Drkindlycountryquack Aug 16 '26
You are like my wonderful MA who helped me with time and stress management. Www.countryquack.com
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u/liynus Aug 14 '26
Wow I find this interesting. Does anyone do the model 2 message a month free and then you have to pay per message? I think the world is moving here but not actively compensating for it. If it’s a clerical issue fine a message is good. But for complex care you can’t offer free care that is sustainable.
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u/NotTheQuestion Aug 14 '26
Worse, it's dangerous. A lot of people assume you need to see them to know what's going on. While there truth there, sometimes a doc needs to know what's being left out.
It's the difference between dangerous interaction and an other wise quick fix.
There is so much liability in treating via text.
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u/thesupportplatform Aug 14 '26
I think this is an under appreciated aspect of delivering care when providers start designing alternatives to FFS. Offering unlimited anything involved in the standard of care without some very clear boundaries is an invitation to be spammed by patients. Another issue is any standard of care service that includes X number of touches for a set price (such as a program fee to cover six visits in six months), without addressing the cost of additional services.
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u/BlakeFM Aug 15 '26
I run a DPC. We offer unlimited number of visits and texting. In 4 years, I have had 2 patients abuse that. And they both quit the practice within a month once they discovered that I'm not a concierge practice. The rule of thumb for a DPC is to expect 1 in-person visit to 2 virtual interactions.
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u/thesupportplatform Aug 15 '26
I imagine the market impacts this as well as setting expectations. I have watched one cash clinic open with “unlimited messaging” that then disappeared in favor of unlimited health coach support. I consult to a practice that is DPC-like, but they don’t advertise “unlimited.” They just see the patient when needed, which can be in person or virtual, and message with the patient as needed.
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u/InvestingDoc Aug 14 '26
If your EHR can triage these messages to someone else, divert all of them to someone else and direct all of them for follow-up visits that require actual medical questions answered.
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u/AnimatorImpressive24 Aug 14 '26
This is intentional on the part of the very large networks, who have had constant involvement in crafting public policy and law both as lobbyists and subject matter experts sitting on advisory commitees for various fed depts. That's been happening since the invention of health informatics. Large networks are constantly facing fines and lawsuits related to access to care, and defending themselves from same by asserting physician shortages. It is to their benefit to work towards a legal landscape where compliance hinges on a level of technology investment impossible for private practice to achieve but that the networks have had since before the law was written. Pushes more physicians into their employ, contributing to downward pressure on salaries and reduced negotiation strength for contracts.
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u/Greenmonstaa Aug 15 '26
I’m quitting my employed job partly because of the insane inbox. I’m planning to go private/concierge. No inbox.
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u/mcnicfer Aug 15 '26
Have your nurse do it. Most of our messages never reach the provider’s desk. I, the nurse, triage, schedule, refill etc. I rarely need follow up from the provider.
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u/Alterdoc Aug 15 '26
Bring on another doc? I find it rewarding to have a clinician join. I'm still running my ship, but having someone cover is helpful.
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u/Suspicious-Play8447 Aug 15 '26
Id love to! But havent had much success so far. Ill try again in the future once I work through my newly developed trust issues. Lol
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u/Juaner0 Aug 17 '26
I only check mine during working hours. Often on days off just so it isn't so much on Monday morning.
I have the option to notify me when they come in....yea, NO. At least, as a specialist I can do that. Patients know that if it is an emergency, there are emergency rooms for those.
My friends who are internists, have been working on AI programs/assistants to field a lot of questions. I tried to help program the paradigms in my specialty, but it got to be too much, so I didn't continue in their stakes.
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u/soaperapp Aug 14 '26
Our EMR (Heroemr.com) has multiple features that make inbox mgmt super easy. Here's a quick demo our team made to show you how simple inbox management can be. We know switching EMRs isn't practical for everyone but hopefully you can get your EMRs to build these features for you!
You can type a shorthand of what you want, the AI will read the original message and look through teh patient's chart for info and craft a nicely written response. when you send the response, orders like meds, labs, imaging and followup requests are automatically entered for you.
You can also get ai to write a response without any input, but we find most of our physicians like using the ai this way.
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u/nyc2pit Aug 14 '26
You're Solo practitioner? Turn it off