Patient Portal
A patient portal is a secure online platform integrated with the electronic health record that allows patients to access their health records, communicate with providers, request refills, schedule appointments, and review results — a required component of MIPS Promoting Interoperability criteria.
What is a Patient Portal?
A patient portal is a web-based or mobile application connected to the organization's EHR that gives patients secure, on-demand access to their clinical information. Core functions include viewing test results, reviewing visit notes and care summaries, sending secure messages to the care team, requesting prescription refills, scheduling appointments, and paying bills. The MIPS Promoting Interoperability (PI) category requires patient portal access and demonstrated patient engagement — measured as portal activation rate (percentage of patients with active accounts) and specific usage actions. The 21st Century Cures Act prohibits information blocking and requires providers to give patients timely access to their health information, with ONC interoperability rules mandating FHIR-based patient access APIs. Epic MyChart holds the largest installed base with over 200 million patient accounts, followed by platforms including Healow, FollowMyHealth, and the Athenahealth patient portal. Analytics for portal performance focus on activation rate by provider and demographic, secure message volume per provider, result notification response time, and online scheduling utilization as a proxy for access and engagement.
Why It Matters for Healthcare Analytics
Portal activation rate directly affects MIPS PI scores, with low activation dragging down the entire PI category weight. Beyond compliance, low portal engagement often signals care access barriers — patients without internet access, language barriers, or health literacy gaps — creating health equity measurement opportunities when stratified by demographic and payer.
How Vizier Tracks Patient Portal
Upload your EHR portal engagement data, then ask "Which providers have the lowest patient portal activation rates and what is the MIPS PI impact?" — Vizier calculates activation rates by provider and demographic, projects the PI score effect, and identifies patient populations with lowest digital engagement.