Patient portals are an important piece of any healthcare organization’s digital engagement strategy, and they’re key to getting the most out of your EHR. Portals serve as a hub for care management, billing, and communications. The technology enables a unique convenience for providers and patients alike.
Yet, many healthcare organizations see engagement plateau after go-live. According to the National Library of Medicine, only 15% to 30% of patients use even a single portal feature.
The challenge usually isn’t the technology itself. It’s the lack of access to support for patients to get started and stay engaged.
No one-size-fits-all solution
The benefits of patient portals are clear. High engagement drives stronger patient satisfaction scores, better aligns care plans, reduces administrative burden on staff, and boosts revenue by simplifying billing. And yet, patients are not logging in.
People come to the patient portal with varying levels of familiarity with technology and from diverse backgrounds and demographic groups. Those factors shape their ability to interact with the system and tap into the benefits.
For example, older patients may need help with signing up and navigation. They may also receive care from a broad array of specialists. Encouraging regular use and serving as an advocate as they exchange data between health systems and practices will help build their confidence and empower them to actively engage in their care.
Non-English speakers also face barriers in using patient portals. They are best served by multilingual resources that give them the option of receiving help in their preferred language.
On the other side of the equation, patient portals fall into a strange area in clinical practice, with ambiguity around ownership: Should IT departments handle portal support? Health information management teams? Individual facility staff? The answer varies, and that inconsistency often creates a support gap for patients.
Without clear accountability, portal users may see delayed responses or inconsistent experiences—both of which discourage adoption.
Yet once a healthcare organization understands its current internal support structures—staffing bandwidth, resource expertise, cost of training, and the financial and operational capacity to maintain a 24/7 multilingual help desk—they often find that building a properly equipped internal team is not realistic.
Expert support from the outside
Specialized external teams who are well-versed both in patient communication and the organization’s EHR system can handle portal-specific issues efficiently, freeing internal IT to focus on clinical workflow and business operations.
When evaluating outsourced support, healthcare organizations should look for teams who:
- Are accessible and trained to meet the needs of each patient population demographic
- Have deep working knowledge of the organization’s EHR system
- Can assist users through the full continuum of care, from account creation and troubleshooting to training patients to create comfort and increase adoption
- Offer clear reporting and analytics that provide visibility into trends and identify proactive opportunities to enhance portal engagement
- Are flexible in providing coverage support, whether needed 24/7 or after-hours
- Prioritize patient satisfaction
Framing outsourcing as an extension of the care team, rather than simply a technical function, reinforces support as central to the patient experience.
Satisfied patients are loyal customers
Beyond mere functionality, the success of patient portals depends on whether patients feel encouraged, supported, and confident in using them. Outsourcing the support environment to a skilled partner allows internal teams to focus on key IT initiatives while offering a high-touch, results-driven experience for patients.
When healthcare organizations treat portal support as a strategic engagement initiative rather than a technical afterthought, they see better activation, stronger satisfaction, and improved operational efficiency.
Each interaction is an opportunity to build trust, reduce friction, and show patients that technology can enhance their healthcare experience.
About Kaitlyn Nelson, CFCHE
As Director of Account Solutions and Development at Stoltenberg Consulting, Kaitlyn Nelson, CFCHE provides client hospitals with staffing and operational alignment, along with flexible resource allocation. With extensive EHR vendor knowledge, industry market understanding and firsthand analyst experience, she understands individual client needs for seamless project onboarding, knowledge transfer, and support continuity. She serves as a key liaison between the internal delivery teams and client executive leadership to ensure project deliverables, performance, and expectations are continuously met. Having successfully led hospitals and health systems through legacy support, managed services, help desk and go-live engagements, she delivers project oversight to ensure that the engagements stay on track, remain within scope, maintain effective resource utilization, and enhance end-user satisfaction and SLA performance.
