Enable Patient Portal

Let’s review how to set up the Patient Portal in the EMR. In this article, we’ll cover the following processes:  

1. Enabling the Portal in your Instance Settings
2. Updating Company Information
3. Consent and Evaluation Templates
4. Manage User Roles
5. Setting up Notifications

Once you've set up the portal, make sure you enable and set up permissions for messaging patients. 

Instance Settings

To begin the Patient Portal setup, you must first turn on the Portal from the Instance Settings.

Important: If you are currently using the legacy Kipu Messenger, enabling the Portal will disable the ability to invite new users to Messenger. 

1. Click on your initials and select Settings.
   
   
2. Open the Instance tab.
3. Under System Options, check the Use Portal box.
4. When you click the checkmark, you will be asked to acknowledge that enabling the portal will incur a monthly fee of $200.
   
5. Click Submit to save.
6. You can view the portal history by clicking the clock icon.

Company Settings

Let’s review your Company settings to ensure the Name, Phone Number, and Logo are correct. These fields appear on the email invitation that is sent to patients when they’re invited to the Patient Portal. 

1. Navigate to Settings and open the Company tab.
2. Click the Edit icon for your Company. This is the first row on the list.
3. Review Company Name, Logo, and Phone Number to ensure accuracy.
4. Click Submit to save changes. 

Note: If you have a master instance and would like to manage your branding and messages by location rather than company, check out the Brand Portal Messaging By Location section of this article.

Consents and Evaluations Templates

Consent and Evaluation forms that you’d like to share through the Portal need to be enabled from the Templates tab. 

Important: Any forms previously set up to be shared through the legacy Kipu Messenger do not need to be re-configured. They will automatically be available to send to the Patient Portal. 

1. Open the Templates tab and navigate to the Consents or Evaluations section.
2. Click on the Edit icon for the Consent/Evaluation you’d like to make available.
3. Check the Available box to share this evaluation to the Patient Portal for review and signature collection.
   • When you click the Available button, the Signatures only checkbox will appear. If this box is checked, patients will only be able to open and sign the form in the Patient Portal, they will not be able to make any other changes.
   • Consent Forms: You also have the option to allow patients and their contacts to revoke forms when the Allow revocation and Allow Portal revocation checkboxes are checked. Click here to learn more.
4. Click Update to save. 
5. Additionally, each user will need to have the Allow document share role added to their user profile to share consent and evaluation forms to the patient portal. Click here for instructions. 

Note: By default, all Outcomes Measurements are shareable to the Patient Portal.

Assign Portal Roles

The following table provides information on access based on role and feature.

Let’s review how to add/manage Portal User permissions.  

1. Click on your initials and select Manage Users.
   
2. Locate the desired user and click Edit. 
3. Scroll down to the Kipu Portal section. In this section, you can add the following permissions to the user profile:
   
   • Allow Document Share: Assign this permission to allow the user to share consent and evaluation forms to the patient's portal. When this role is enabled, the user will see a share icon next to any form marked as available in the portal.
     
   • Available for Portal Messages: Assign this permission to allow the user to communicate with patients through My Messages.
   • Manage Portal Packages: Allows users to create and edit packages. 
   • Manage Portal Settings: To access the Portal Settings tab (a requirement to enable the My Messages feature which allows users to message patients), a Super Admin must assign the Manage Portal Settings role to users. This role is not included in any other role including Super Admin and must be assigned to any user who needs access to the Portal Settings tab.
     • Required Permissions: This role can only be provisioned by a Super Admin, users with the Manage Users feature will not be able to assign the role.
     • The user(s) provisioned with the Manage portal settings permission can enable My Messages by following these instructions. 
     • The user will have access to the Portal Settings tab. Access this tab by clicking initials > Settings.
4. Scroll to the end of the page and click Update.

Notifications

Set up Notifications to receive alerts related to patient activity in the portal. This step can only be completed by a Super Admin.

1. Click on your initials and select Settings.
2. Open the Notifications tab.
   
   • Notifications are location-specific, so users in a Master Instance will be prompted to select a Location and will need to complete the setup for each Location.
     
3. Click the New button.
4. From the Event drop-down, select one of the five Portal-specific Notification options:
   • Portal Registration Completed: Activated when the patient or contact has completed the portal account registration process.
   • Portal Document Completed: Activated when the portal user has signed or completed a consent, evaluation, or outcomes assessment.
   • Portal File Uploaded: Activated when the portal user has uploaded a file to the My Files section of the portal. 
   • Portal Treatment Plan Signed: Activated when the portal user has signed a treatment plan.
   • Portal Email Changed: Activated when the portal user changes the email address associated with their portal account. This automatically updates the Email field on the patient facesheet.  
   • Portal Consent Revoked: Activated when the portal user has revoked a consent form; details include patient, user's relation to patient (if applicable), and the document name.
5. You can update the Event Name, Start and End Dates, and set the Severity. 
   • The Severity level impacts the color of the alert: Critical is red, Warning is yellow, and Information is blue.
6. Indicate the desired Recipients. Recipients can be configured by individual User, Care Team, and Role. For example, you can configure all Super Admins to receive the alert and set individual users to receive it as well.
   
7. Configure the Notification Title and related Message.
   
8. Then, use the toggles to indicate how the notification should be delivered: as a Toast (in-app popup message) and/or as an Email.
9. Click Save.
10. Repeat for all additional notifications and locations.