SKAGIT VALLEY, Wash.—Rolling out a brand new patient portal can be tough. Sometimes, patients are resistant to change, or need some help getting the grasp of how a new system works and why it’s necessary. The transition can be a lengthy, frustrating, and slow process—but there are ways to make everything a little bit easier. The team at Cascadia Eye, located in Washington State, came up with a special incentive to get patients to enroll in the portal system: a gift card drawing. Patients who signed up for the new portal were entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card, and the winner received a special shout-out on social media. In addition, staff got involved in the contest as well, with their own special award for patient education.

Here's a look at how Cascadia Eye tackled the patient portal transition—feel free to get inspired and make your own practice’s transition a little more fun.


The Cascadia Eye team rolled out the contest in November, encouraging patients to enroll before December 15 in order to be eligible for the gift card. Image via cascadiaeye on Instagram.



The team also issued multiple reminders throughout the month, up until the day before the contest closed. Image via cascadiaeye on Instagram.

 

Before drawing the patient portal award, team member Marlene was named the patient Education Contest Winner for all her hard work educating Cascadia Eye patients about Patient Portal. Image via cascadiaeye on Instagram.



Later, another staff member was awarded a second Patient Education Award: team member Kailee, who “showed off both her willingness to learn new skills as well as her dedication to caring for our patients as she guided many of them to join our patient portal.” Image via cascadiaeye on Instagram.