Patient Portal Overview

Patient Portal Overview

The patient portal gives patients secure self-service access to their health information. Patients log in using a one-time code sent to their email or mobile - no password is required.

Portal Credentials vs Contact Details

Patient portal credentials are separate from the contact details stored on the patient record.

	Portal Credentials	Contact Details
Fields	Auth email, Auth mobile	Email, Phone, Mobile, Home phone
Purpose	Portal login only	General contact, SMS reminders, shared contacts
Uniqueness	Must be unique per organisation	Can be shared (e.g. parent and child)
Verification	OTP verified before login	No verification required

This means a patient's portal login email can be different from the email on their demographics. For example, a parent might share their contact email with a child patient, but each must have a unique portal credential.

See the Managing Patient Portal Credentials article for details on setting up and managing credentials.

What Patients Can Do

Once logged in, patients can:

• View appointments - see upcoming and past appointments
• View clinical records - access shared clinical information (if enabled)
• View invoices - see outstanding and paid invoices
• Make payments - pay invoices online
• Update their profile - edit contact details and preferences
• Complete questionnaires - fill in assigned questionnaires
• Manage payment methods - add or update saved cards

How Patients Access the Portal

Patients access the portal via:

• Patient links - generate a secure link from the patient's record (see the How to Use Patient Links article)
• QR code - display a QR code patients can scan
• Direct URL - share your organisation's portal login page

Patients verify their identity using a one-time code sent to their portal email or mobile. Sessions last 24 hours. Access to clinical records requires a separate elevation step (up to 60 minutes).

Configuring the Portal

Organisation administrators can configure the portal under Settings > Patient Portal:

• Enable or disable the portal for your organisation
• Choose which sections are visible to patients (appointments, clinical records, invoices, etc.)
• Customise branding to match your practice

For authentication settings (verification methods, credential management), go to Settings > Patient Authentication. See the Patient Authentication Settings article for details.

Tip: Portal credentials must be set up before a patient can log in. Use the Online Access tab on a patient's record to configure their credentials, or use the bulk backfill feature in Settings > Patient Authentication.