Left: Signe Dietrichson dishes up a bowl of bread
pudding to Denise Chavez at the Taste of Vandy event. (photo by Dana Johnson)
Patients can now pay bills online
Vanderbilt patients can now view and pay their hospital and clinic bills online. They can also request a clinic appointment, view future appointments, and send messages to patient representatives in Vanderbilt’s billing offices.
These are the initial functions of a secure, password-protected Web site called MyHealthatVanderbilt.
The site is destined to help facilitate broad communication with VUMC patients, with long-term plans that include e-mail communication with physician offices, posting of clinical test results, and the ability of patients with chronic disease to post to the medical record self-measured health status indicators gathered in the home (e.g. blood pressure, blood glucose levels).
The October site launch follows a year-long pilot phase during which the site was available only to Vanderbilt employees.
Security for the site is similar to that used with online banking, with patients registering in person with a photo ID and receiving their password by mail. To register, visit Guest Services, located in room 1801 of the Vanderbilt Clinic.
Clinic appointment requests made through the site are handled by VMG Central Appointments.
Promotion of MyHealthatVanderbilt will include posters in each clinic, messages on billing statements, and direct promotion by clinic receptionists.
The site was created by Health Systems Engineer Ellen Yan and Manager of Health Information Systems Projects Laura Klepper. Racy Peters, director of common systems for VMG, is the project director for MyHealthatVanderbilt.