OP’s New Patient Portal: Dispelling the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)

A message from OP CEO Mike Ressel

Greetings OP Community! 

I know there's been a lot of discussion lately about the new OP Patient Portal and what it means for your practice. I'm also aware that some of the messages you've received since our announcement may have created a certain amount of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) about choosing a portal, perhaps pressuring you to make a quick decision and sign a contract. It’s important that you have all the facts when it comes to selecting a patient portal for your practice. Because of that, I am sending this message to help set the record straight so that you can make the best decision for your particular circumstances.

1. The new OP Patient Portal, powered by Bridge, is an integral part of OP’s strategic path forward. For a variety of reasons, this is where we will be investing our time and resources when it comes to delivering new, deeply integrated patient engagement functionality. Rest assured, our initial release is just the beginning of great things to come.    
2. Although we are very excited about the new OP Patient Portal and look forward to bringing all of you along with us on this new path, we recognize that some of our customers will ultimately choose to continue using InteliChart’s portal. We understand and respect that this will be the right choice for some of you. We deliberately chose to move to an “open market” model to allow those who wish to remain on InteliChart’s portal to do so. Only you can decide what’s best for your practice. 
3. We’ve heard concerns from multiple customers that InteliChart has been reaching out with their sales efforts, suggesting that you must sign a new patient portal contract directly with them right away. I’m here to tell you that there is absolutely no rush to decide between migrating to the new OP Patient Portal or signing a long-term portal agreement directly with InteliChart. In fact, you have three options at the moment:

Option 1: You can continue using your InteliChart portal under your current contract with OP with no disruptions or changes to your portal service. This option lets you decide on the timing and long-term selection of a patient portal for your practice. Some of you may want to wait until the new OP Patient Portal has some additional functionality before making your final decision - that's perfectly understandable. You also have the right to ask InteliChart to stop soliciting you if this is the option you’ve selected for the time being.

Option 2: You can choose to remain on InteliChart’s portal for the long term by executing a multi-year portal agreement with them directly. Similar to Option 1, this choice will allow you to maintain your current InteliChart-based patient portal service. However, because you will now have a direct relationship with them, all customer support for your patient portal will be delivered exclusively by InteliChart rather than OP.

Option 3: You can choose to sign up for the new OP Patient Portal now. If you haven’t already done so, fill out this form to get your practice on the schedule for a 2025 implementation. As we get closer to releasing additional functionality like flu clinic support, patient self-scheduling, and patient check-in, OP will communicate updates on these enhancements as they become available.

1. Customers who elect Option 1 will eventually be required to finalize their decision to either migrate to the new OP Patient Portal or sign directly with InteliChart. While our recommendation will be to migrate to OP’s new portal since that is now our standard offering, the choice will ultimately be yours to make when the time comes. We will provide plenty of advanced notice well before any decision deadline. 

OP remains committed to delivering a seamless and user-friendly portal experience for you and the families you serve. It is my sincere hope that this email has provided you with the clarity needed to understand your current options when it comes to your patient portal. We remain dedicated to decreasing your staff’s workload and empowering your patients to take a more active role in their care.