February 25, 2013

My Health at Vanderbilt to unveil simpler look

A redesign of My Health at Vanderbilt will give users an improved experience that is consistent with other Vanderbilt University Medical Center websites.

A redesign of My Health at Vanderbilt will give users an improved experience that is consistent with other Vanderbilt University Medical Center websites.

The redesign, scheduled to launch Feb. 28, simplifies the navigation, uses icons and visual cues and organizes all account information on a single page.

“Our goal for this redesign is to improve the experience and ease of use for our patients,” said S. Trent Rosenbloom, associate professor of biomedical informatics, medicine and pediatrics and director of patient engagement.

“We also hope that the redesign will encourage new users to register for this convenient way to access their VUMC health care information and provider teams. We are proud of the end result, which was possible because of strong collaboration among members of the VUMC web development team and the My Health at Vanderbilt informatics team.

Nearly 220,000 patients and delegates are already registered to use My Health at Vanderbilt, which provides a secure online mechanism to message their providers, request appointments, view lab results and other medical information and pay bills.

An important change that will not be visible to users is replacement of old programming infrastructure with more nimble programming that lays the foundation for future adaptations, including responsive design to permit better access via mobile devices.

“Being able to stay on the leading edge of technology and consumer behavior trends, including the important shift to mobile access, is an important priority for VUMC and patient engagement,” Rosenbloom said.

The changes also are integral to keeping VUMC in line with federal “Meaningful Use” requirements and assuring the medical center’s position as a leader in the electronic medical/electronic health record field.

Future enhancements include expanding the list of medical information that can be viewed in the tool, redesign of lab results and messaging for better display of information, mobile access and text messaging.

If users of My Health at Vanderbilt encounter problems using the tool, they should contact the VUMC HELP Desk using the “Help: Using My Health” link. VUMC staff may reach the HELP Desk using that link or by calling 343-HELP.

While not anticipated, it is possible that as users become accustomed to the new design, they may message their health care providers for assistance.

“We don’t anticipate that, but if it does occur, we apologize for the inconvenience and ask providers to contact their operations systems engineers for assistance if needed,” said Sue Muse, project administrator and co-chair for My Health at Vanderbilt.

Patients who have not yet registered for the patient portal are encouraged to sign up at My Health at Vanderbilt.com.

Contact: Cynthia Manley
cynthia.manley@vanderbilt.edu