Facebook Portal “RegisterPatient” Allows for Secure Patient-Physician Communications

According to the press release it is HIPAA compliant  and allows for private conversations between patients and doctors.  It doesn’t cost anything for patients but is any of the information being mined, even with de-identified parameters?  The appointment

According to the press release it is HIPAA compliant  and allows for private conversations between patients and doctors.  It doesn’t cost anything for patients but is any of the information being mined, even with de-identified parameters?  The appointment part of the program is probably the least of any one’s worries but when you get into text email type communications and prescription refills I would have a keen eye open here with the integration.  

It doesn’t appear to be free for the doctors; the site states that it is $69.95 a month.  When you visit their free standing website the RegisterPatient has all the whistles and bells that can integrate with a medical record system, etc. so why do you need Facebook in the portal?  BD 

RegisterPatient.com launched its new, first-of-its-kind, secure patient portal Facebook app on Monday. RegisterPatient’s partner physicians can use the new app to quickly and easily add a secure patient portal to their Facebook page. Patients using Facebook can visit the medical practice’s fan page, access the secure, HIPAA-compliant registration portal and request appointments, complete their registration forms in advance, request prescription refills and send secure messages to their doctor, all without ever leaving the provider’s Facebook page.

”With more and more patients using Facebook to find and research doctors, a secure Facebook app that allows them to interact with doctors seemed like a natural fit,” said 20-year veteran nurse and founder of RegisterPatient.com, David Williams. Williams believes the app is simply the next logical step in RegisterPatient’s quest to reduce practice costs and simplify patient registration.

Details on the Register Patient Facebook App for Physicians

Cost: Free feature included as part of RegisterPatient system
Functionality Specifics:
Application can be installed on provider’s Facebook page creating a HIPAA compliant secure patient portal with the following functions:
●    Secure online patient registration
●    Appointment Requests with real time appointment availability
●    Prescription refill requests
●    Secure patient to provider messaging

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/5/prweb9552171.htm