Online enrollment makes signing up for MyWellSpan easier

Have you signed up yet?

The MyWellSpan online patient portal was developed to give you access to your personal health information, and proxy access to your children’s information, 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. With a secure online account, you have the convenience to choose when and where you log in.

The ability for WellSpan patients to enroll online is the latest enhancement to this tool. My WellSpan plays a key part in WellSpan’s ongoing journey toward a fully functioning community electronic health record.

“WellSpan’s decision to develop its own portal is a testament to the important role this effort will play,” emphasized Hal Baker, M.D., chief information officer.

“As we move to a patient-centered approach, including in the medical home, we want activated and informed patients.Giving patients access to their health information when and where they want it allows them to actively participate in ensuring ‘exceptional care for all, lifelong wellness and healthy communities,’ as described in our Mission.”

3 options to enroll in MyWellSpan

1. Online.WellSpan patients can self-enroll at http://www.mywellspan.org/. WellSpan staff members can self-enroll in MyWellSpan or finish a partially completed enrollment by accessing http://www.mywellspan.org/. This link is also available on INET in the “What’s Happening” section. The process to enroll is easy, taking less than two minutes.
2. Phone. Call 1-866-638-1842, and a MyWellSpan representative will help you create your account on the spot. Again, the process takes less than two minutes to complete.
3. In person. Speak with a member of the staff at any participating WellSpan Medical Group practice or WellSpan Lab. He/she can provide an enrollment form and help you get signed up.

Key features
More than 26,000 patients have signed up for MyWellSpan. One key feature of the program is access to general lab results, most of which are available 24 hours after the result is final.

MyWellSpan users can also access their children’s health records (age 12 and under), including immunizations, by establishing a proxy relationship. This is done by completing the proxy request form found in the left navigation of MyWellSpan.

There are a number of other features (see list), but one of the most popular is the secure messaging with your physician.

“Patients who have used MyWellSpan for non-urgent messaging have been very pleased,” states Mandi Waltemyer, clinical nursing coordinator, Yorktowne Family Medicine.

“They agree that it’s much easier than calling.” Waltemyer points out that patients can send their questions via MyWellSpan at any time (the office doesn’t have to be open) and access their MyWellSpan mailbox when it’s convenient.

Patients receive an email notifiying them when a response has been sent and is ready to be viewed in their MyWellSpan inbox.

Karen Jones, M.D., medical director of quality and innovation for the WellSpan Medical Group, adds that because the answers to the secure message questions tend to be more complete and detailed than a verbal response on the phone, the volume of calls to a practice generally declines and patient satisfaction increases.

Engaging patients
“We take every opportunity to educate patients about the benefits of MyWellSpan, including check-in and check-out and the providers often will mention it during the visit,” said Tracy Blickenstaff, office manager for Apple Hill Internal Medicine.

Just as important as speaking with patients about the program is continuing to provide patients with different ways to access MyWellSpan. The WellSpan mobile app now provides access to MyWellSpan portal content. Using an existing MyWellSpan account, users can access all the features directly from their smart phone.

Users can also exchange messages with their participating WellSpan provider office with mobile secure messaging. The WellSpan mobile app also includes many additional useful features.

WellSpan set out to make managing your health care as easy as possible. The current result is an online system that gives you access to your personal health care information 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-aweek, and makes it easier than ever to communicate with your health care provider and become more involved in your care.

According to Baker, more enhancements and new features are on the horizon. “In the coming months you will see a number of improvements including the ability to truly schedule some doctor’s appointments online, the ability to have proxy access for not just children, but teens and adults. New features will be coming forward almost monthly.”

Questions? Need help?
To learn more about MyWellSpan or for a list of participating WellSpan locations, go to http://www.mywellspan.org/. Or call MyWellSpan Customer Service at 1-866-638-1842 with any questions. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.