Health in your hands

What if you could text your doctor’s office when you need a prescription refill? Or if your phone reminded you when it’s time for your flu shot? Or if you have kids, that their next pediatrician appointment is this week?

There are countless benefits of digital patient portals, which have become a one-stop-shop for managing health care for the entire family. With My Baptist Chart, the new portal for Baptist Health patients, everything mentioned above is possible. When you sign up, your portal account will begin being matched with your existing medical records and any upcoming appointments you have scheduled. And that’s just the beginning of how the new platform can make your health care more convenient.

Ping! Did you get your flu shot?

Reminders for an annual exam, mammogram, vaccine you may be due for, and more will appear in your My Baptist Chart feed, or if you opt to receive them, can come as push notifications to your phone. Getting these little nudges to schedule preventive care can help you maintain your good health and catch any changes in your condition early.

“From a physician’s perspective, this is all about engaging the patient. A digital reminder reinforces that as their doctor, I believe this is important for their health,” said Kenneth Mayer, MD, family physician and chief medical officer of Baptist Primary Care. “If I’m 55 and feeling great and I don’t realize it’s time for a vaccination or colonoscopy, I might not think about it. This is how we find things early and can prevent problems down the road.”

Appointments now and later

Just like My Baptist Chart can alert you to upcoming health screenings or shots you may be due for, it will also notify you of upcoming appointments. With these reminders, you can look at appointment details (like time and location) and fill out any registration paperwork in advance to save time once you arrive.

Virtual visits are now hosted on My Baptist Chart too, for a seamless, secure experience. Simply log in and click on your scheduled appointment to join the call with your provider.

No more phone tag

It can be frustrating to call your doctor’s office for something simple and have to wait on hold. My Baptist Chart allows you to message your provider’s office for non-urgent requests, like questions about an upcoming appointment or a prescription you’re taking.

“Every office gets a lot of phone calls, and you may only have a minute or two to communicate your request. It can be simpler to send some things as a message knowing you’ll receive a reply within a reasonable period of time. The convenience factor is huge,” Dr. Mayer said.

A perk for parents

If your child visits Baptist Health or Wolfson Children’s Hospital, you can connect his or her My Baptist Chart account to yours to receive their appointment reminders and other notifications. To do this, you’ll need to fill out a Portal Access Request Form. When your child turns 12, their account becomes their own, or a Baptist team member can grant you proxy access.

Putting everyone on the same page

For patients with doctors who are affiliated with different health systems, using My Baptist Chart can help you connect your medical records. The portal is part of a technology platform called Epic, which is used by hundreds of health care systems across the country. If any of your other providers use Epic and you’ve granted this access, Baptist Health doctors can view their notes.

“This allows for better coordination of your care,” said Dr. Mayer. “If you have a specialist in another system or you were hospitalized somewhere else, the fact that we can see what was done is invaluable. We used to have to call and get those records and scan them in, which required a lot of waiting. It’s not just convenience, but a safety improvement. If one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing, it’s hard to coordinate the best care possible.”

My Baptist Chart is here to help you engage in your health care with convenient screening reminders, appointment alerts, and direct messaging with your providers. To sign up for My Baptist Chart, visit my.baptistchart.com.