UHN’s patient portal reaches 50,000 patients

TORONTO – The myUHN Patient Portal has reached a significant milestone – 50,000 registered patients. myUHN is a secure website that makes appointments, test results, pathology and diagnostic imaging reports and clinic notes available to patients in real-time.

It allows patients to share their information with their caregivers or family doctor, empowering them to become partners in care. myUHN also includes patient education resource links, to help patients and caregivers better understand health information.

myUHN is a demonstration of the organization’s Purpose, Values and Principles in action, exemplifying how the needs of patients always come first.

Since its inception, myUHN has been about teamwork; the portal was designed and built in-house by UHN Digital, in collaboration with patients, caregivers and staff.

From the beginning, patients said they wanted real-time access to their health records and information. Their view was that having immediate access to results would reduce anxiety, give them time to process the information and prepare questions in advance of their appointments.

“Our patients are people who are invested in their own health,” explains Dr. Joy Richards (pictured), vice president of patient experience and chief health professions. “They want their information so they can have more meaningful conversations with their care team in order to make more informed decisions.

“Reaching 50,000 registered patients is a testament to this.”

In addition, myUHN is promoted by several community organizations – St. Hilda’s Senior Care Community, West Neighbourhood House, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada, and many more – as a way to engage patients and provide a seamless quality of care between UHN and our community health partners.

Continuous feedback has played an important role in making myUHN work for patients and staff. Bringing patients, caregivers, and staff together often to foster collaboration, identify patient needs and priorities, explore challenges and solutions and make joint decisions has been an important part of myUHN’s success.

This past winter, the myUHN Patient Portal team completed a benefits evaluation. Nearly 10,000 responses were received from patients, who reported:

• 94 percent improved management of care
• 93 percent improved communication
• 92 percent better able to make decisions

Through myUHN, stronger relationships have been formed in the delivery of care and there has been a change in the conversations around the collective understanding of how care is offered.

Along with continuous feedback, there has also been continuous improvement.

Recently, Dr. Jason Wasserman, a pathology fellow, created an informative website called “My Pathology Report.” The website is a free educational resource designed to help patients understand and interpret a pathology report.

In collaboration with UHN Digital, Patient Experience and the myUHN Patient Portal team, a link to the My Pathology Report website was added to the myUHN Patient Portal. This integration has set the bar in supporting patients as active and informed members of their healthcare team.

“It’s great to see how UHN has embraced the Patient Portal,” said Dr. Richards. “With myUHN having 50,000 patients registered, point of care staff, healthcare professionals and physicians are encouraging patients and caregivers to access their health record information online.

“This is a great example of living our values: the needs of patients come first.”