Patient portal technology enables patients to use a web-based connection to communicate with their healthcare provider. Forty percent of U.S. office-based physicians currently have a portal through their electronic health record or practice management system, according to research released by Frost and Sullivan in September 2013.

Although the technology can be utilized in a variety of ways, practices generally set up a portal to give patients the following capabilities:

• Schedule appointments
• Complete registration forms
• Send secure email to providers
• Access lab results
• Request prescription refills
• Create and maintain a personal health record (PHR)
• View educational materials

A potent driver of portal growth is that Stage 2 of meaningful use under the federal EHR Incentive Program requires “patients to electronically view, download and transmit electronic copies of their own medical records.” Physicians must engage at least 5 percent of their patients via an online portal under Stage 2.

Medical Practice Insider identified patient portal products listed on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC)’s Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) that have been certified to 2014 Edition criteria under the EHR Incentive Program. We further filtered to obtain products categorized by ONC in the CHPL as being applicable to ambulatory practices and modular in nature (as opposed to complete EHR systems with an integrated portal component).

Details on those products appear in the comparison table below and on hyperlinked individual pages compiled by Medical Practice Insider. Use the available hyperlinks to navigate among the products you wish to analyze.