Penn State Health patient portal change improves patient satisfaction, safety

Hershey Medical Center and St. Joseph Medical Center patients will be able to view pathology interpretive reports in their patient portals beginning Tuesday, March 30. The anatomic pathology reports will include surgical pathology, cytopathology, bone marrow, flow cytometry and dermatopathology.

Four days will pass between a report’s finalization and its availability to patients via the portal. The delay was created so providers first have time to review the reports.

The Penn State Health patient portal “mypennstatehealth” posts nearly everything in a patient’s medical record to the patient portal immediately upon availability in the electronic medical record in final format. This includes vital signs, lab results, imaging studies and final, signed provider notes. This patient-centric approach to data transparency is nationally known as “open note.”

Leaders say patients want, expect and deserve access to all diagnostic information.  Including anatomic pathology reports is a patient safety measure, reducing the very small risk that a result might be overlooked or not communicated to a patient or that there might be a delay in communication.

A federal law — the 21st Century Cures Act — requires that clinical information, such as these reports, be made available to patients. The law includes a data-blocking provision that supports the open notes concepts.

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