Nij Geertgen: the ePortal success story

Since January 2019,, the ePortal has become an indispensable feature for fertility clinic Nij Geertgen. ‘The ePortal saves us tons of work’, says Patricia van de Ven. ‘The portal is fully integrated into our website (also in terms of corporate identity) and the secure, personal environment exudes professionalism and trust. The portal enables us to respond to the needs of today's patient. I’d like to tell you more about our experiences!’. Patients register via our own website and then fill in the (online) questionnaire via the ePortal. The personalized online environment provides our patients with tailored information: parts of the patient file can be viewed, such as appointments and correspondence, and we can share interactive links with the patient. By using the ePortal, information is accessible anytime, anywhere (in the desired language). In addition, the information is always up-to-date, which is highly valued by patients. The portal has automated many operations within the clinic. This saves a lot of time; once you have prepared the required information, the portal takes care of the rest. The completed questionnaires are automatically read into eBase. The information then only needs to be validated. We advise future users to pay extra attention to mapping out the workflow. Formulating work instructions can take some time, but ultimately also saves time. Moreover, it might be useful to already think about what questions future users may have. An online manual that answers such frequently asked questions reduces the number of questions and e-mails that the receptionist receives. Marieke Schoonenberg (gynecologist and medical director of Nij Geertgen) is also very enthusiastic about the portal. ‘The portal offers us the opportunity to distinguish ourselves from other healthcare providers. eFertility thinks along with us so we can quickly and adequately respond to the needs of our patient. The ePortal greatly supports us in providing clear and unambiguous communication at the desired time, which is beneficial for everyone. The ePortal makes sure that we (healthcare provider and patient) can properly go through the process together. Together we can make the difference. Will you follow?’.   The portal is used intensively by the patients of Nij Geertgen. In the past 30 days, no less than 91% of the patients chose to complete the questionnaire via the portal. In 2021, as many as 1.039 questionnaires have been completed online so far. A patient logs in 4.5 times on average. All in all, these figures confirm that Nij Geertgen has implemented the portal very successfully and patients appear to be extremely satisfied, as they log in regularly. Besides the fact that the ePortal has saved Nij Geertgen a great amount of valuable time, it also results in standardization of the work processes.