About the time that I signed up to go through a patient portal to set up an appointment with my bone and joint doctor about my knees earlier this month, one of my HIPAA consulting clients asked about an agreement for patients to sign to use a patient portal. Serendipity at work again. Because my editor says that there are no coincidences, I decided to draft a sample Patient Portal Informed Consent and User Agreement. It is now available for you in the Premium Member section of the Veterans Press website.
As always, this sample Patient Portal Informed Consent and User Agreement is just that, a sample. You may need to adapt it to fit your situation. You may also want to have qualified counsel review it for your situation. And finally, you may need to get with your inhouse or contract IT guru to help you get it posted on your website so that your patients/clients can sign your Patient Portal Informed Consent and User Agreement online before they sign up online to use your patient portal (so that your website works, unlike the website for Obamacare). If you prefer, you can, of course, always have them sign a paper copy in your office before you send them to your patient portal for scheduling appointments and so forth.
Again, as a reminder, if you bought the HIPAA Compliance Library that includes my 5th edition of the Compliance Guide to HIPAA and the DHHS Regulations, you received with it a one-year free subscription to the Premium Member section. If you need help setting up your account to access the Premium Member section, please call our marketing director, Patrick R. Head II, toll-free at 855-341-8783 or email him at patrick@veteranspress.com.
