1. OceanMD
  2. Website Forms
  3. Patient Authenticated Website Forms

Patient Authenticated Website Forms

Patient Authenticated Website Forms are a special type of website form with restricted access for patients with an existing chart in the clinic’s EMR. Ocean does this by adding a Patient Authentication feature as the initial step. When used with the Inbound Message eForm, patients can submit files & documents to their healthcare provider.

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Introducing Patient Authentication for Website Forms

Website Forms allow clinics to host Ocean forms on a URL so patients can securely complete self-referrals, new patient intake, prescription renewals, appointment requests, and more. This website form URL can be hosted on a clinic website, or sent to a patient via email. 

What are Patient Authenticated Website Forms?

Ocean can restrict access to a website form to patients with an existing chart in the clinic’s EMR. Ocean does this by adding a Patient Authentication (PA) feature as the initial step. When used with the Inbound Message eForm, patients can also submit files & documents to their healthcare provider.

Key Benefits:

  • Easy for Patients - Patients are not required to create an account or log into a patient portal in order to securely submit information & files
  • EMR-integrated - Notes from accepted submissions can be imported directly into the patient’s chart with a single click
  • Customizable - As with all of Ocean’s patient-facing tools, the Website Form can be customized to suit your clinic’s needs (eg. clinic logo, welcome message, etc.)

How it works for Patients:

  1. Patient navigates to your Website Form.

    • A patient navigates to your clinic’s website and finds your Website Form. This can be hyperlinked as a button (eg. “Contact the Family Health Team"). If you choose not to display your Website Form on your clinic website, the URL can be shared directly with your patient using Ocean’s secure patient messaging.

  2. Patient enters information to authenticate.

    • The patient enters their first and last name, date of birth, and health card number into the PA screen and submits.
    • In order to authenticate the patient, Ocean will search the EMR for a matching chart based on this information. If there is a match, the patient can proceed to the next step.

  3. Patient completes form and optionally adds attachments.

    • The patient can now complete the "Inbound Message" eForm. If the patient would like to include an attachment, they can click the +File upload button to attach a file from their device. Ocean will accept attachments with a size limit of 10MB per attachment and up to 50MB total for all attachments. Ocean also has a limitation on certain file types (.jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tiff, .tif, .mp3, .mp4, .txt, .pdf). If a patient uploads a file type that is not supported or that is too large, Ocean will give them the appropriate size or type error message.

  4. Success notification shown.

    • The patient is notified that their submission was successfully submitted and they can exit the session.

To learn how these attachments are then downloaded into your EMR, learn how to download an attachment submitted through a Website Form.

Want to get started? Learn how to set up a Website Form to allow patients to securely send attachments.

How can I set up a Patient Authenticated Website Form to allow patients to securely send attachments?

A Patient Authenticated Website Form allows patients to securely send a message with an attachment(s) to the clinic. Only patients with existing records in the clinic's EMR can access to this form.

Prerequisites

1. Create a new Website Form Link

  • Log in to the Ocean Portal, select 'Menu' and click 'Admin'.
  • Within the Admin Settings page, select 'Website Form Links'.
  • Click the 'New Website Form Link Configuration' button in the bottom right corner.

2. Configure your Website Form settings

  • Name
    The name of your Website Link, for internal purposes. This name is not visible to patients.
    Directory Listing
    The Directory Listing that you created or claimed.
    Website Forms Type
    Indicate the type of Website Form Link you are creating. In this case, select 'Authenticated Form'.
    Redirect URL
    If a URL is entered, the patient will be automatically redirected to the provided URL upon submission of the form.
    Authentication Type
    Choose if patients should authenticate using their Health Number, or an Alternate ID*.
    Alternate ID Label*
    If Alternate ID is chosen as the Authentication Type, enter the label that will be displayed to patients during authentication (e.g., "Student Number").
    Subsite Reference
    Only applicable if your Website Form fees are covered by different payers. More information about subsites can be found in "Creating Separate Bills for Different Ocean Services".
    Active
    Once enabled, your Website Form Link can be accessed using the provided URL after creation and billing will begin. If you are not ready to activate the link yet, simply keep this setting disabled until you're ready.
  • Once you're ready, click the 'Create' button to complete the configuration of your Patient Authenticated Website Form.

3. Set your Website Form Notification Email

  • Within the Ocean Portal, select 'Menu' and click 'Admin'.
  • Within the Admin Settings page, select 'Site Account'.

  • Enter the email address that should receive notifications for new website form submissions in the 'Website Form Notification Email' field.

    Multiple email addresses can be included, separated by commas or semicolons.

4. Deactivate/Activate your Patient Authenticated Website Form

Once you have created and configured your Patient Authenticated Website Form, you can deactivate or activate it at any time.

  • Within the Website Form Links settings area, simply click the 'Configure' button to adjust any settings.
  • Make your desired changes to the link configuration (e.g., enabling or disabling the 'Active' checkbox), and then click the 'Save' button.

Directory Listing Deleted/Unclaimed?

Please Note: If the Directory Listing associated with your Patient Authenticated Website Form is deleted or unclaimed from your Ocean Site, the form will be automatically deactivated.

How do I download an attachment submitted through a Patient Authenticated Website Form?

1. Access and Review the Submission

  • Once a patient submits a Patient Authenticated Website Form, an email notification will be sent to the 'Website Form Notification Email' set within your Ocean Site's Site Account page.

    Note: If no 'Website Form Notification Email' has been set, the email notification will be sent to your Ocean Site's 'Clinical Administrator / Ocean Support Contact' email.

  • In the Ocean Portal, the submission can be found within the 'New' folder of the Website Forms area.

  • After opening the submission, the details of the patient's submission is displayed under the 'Referral Form Summary' section and any file attachments are included under the 'Messaging' section.

2. Import the Submission into your EMR

PS Suite Med Access Accuro OSCAR Pro
Option 1: Manual Download Workflow
  • Click the 'Preview' button (purple eye) to view the attachment in a new tab in your web browser.
  • Right click on the image in your web browser and click 'Copy' to copy it to your clipboard.
  • Return to the main submission tab and click 'Accept' or 'Completed' to trigger the download of the Ocean eForm note into the corresponding patient chart in the EMR.
  • Open the corresponding patient chart in PS Suite.
  • Locate and right-click within the newly-generated Ocean note, and select 'Paste' to insert the file attachment from your clipboard.
  • In the attachment preview window, click 'Save into [patient name]'.
  • The attachment will now be associated with the note via a paperclip icon next to the date. Clicking the paperclip icon will allow you to review the attachment.
Option 2: 'Manage Received Documents' Workflow

PS Suite has a built-in "Manage Received Documents" workflow. This workflow allows PS Suite users to point their EMR to a specific folder on their computer, give the EMR access to downloaded files from that folder, and immediately delete them after being downloaded into the EMR.

This saves the important manual step of having to delete files containing PHI from a computer. In the clinic, this functionality is typically used by admins to import faxed documents, but can also be useful when managing these attachments through Ocean.

  • From a patient's chart, choose File, and select Manage Received Documents from the menu
  • Enter the patient's name in the Select Patient box. Next, select the Attachment to Existing Note radio button option. Finally, click the Select Note to Receive Attachment button.
  • In the patient's record, choose the note which you want to attach the document by clicking the checkbox next to the date to green bar it (you can only attach the document to one note.) Leave the patient record open and navigate back to the "Manage Received Documents" window. If required, modify the users to notify who need to review this document. Click the Save into Patient button.
  • The attachment will now be associated with the note via a paperclip icon next to the date. Clicking the paperclip icon will allow you to review the attachment. The document also disappears from the "Manage Received Documents" list and it is securely deleted from the source folder on your workstation.
Option 3: 'Automatically Import Attachments to EMR' Workflow

Early Access Feature

Note: The 'Automatically Import Attachments to EMR' functionality is an early access feature. If you are interested in joining the early access program, please contact the OceanMD Support team.

Before following the steps below, ensure that the 'Automatically Import Attachments to EMR' setting has been enabled in your Ocean Cloud Connect settings.

  • Once the submission has been 'Accepted' or 'Completed' in the Ocean Portal, the resultant Ocean eForm note will be downloaded into the respective patient chart as a Progress Note.
  • Any file attachment(s) will generate another Progress Note with the relevant file downloaded and attached automatically via a paperclip icon.

Routing Patient Authenticated Website Form Submissions to a Provider

Multi-provider clinics receiving inbound messages and content from patients can benefit from being able to identify and route the submission to the relevant provider in the Ocean Portal. This article describes how to optionally capture the provider's name in the form, and the subsequent routing of the submission to a specific provider for review.

1. Configure the 'Inbound Message' eForm (Optional)

PS Suite Med Access OSCAR Pro Accuro Other EMR

  • For PS Suite users, the name of the 'Patient's MD/NP' (as assigned within PS Suite) will automatically appear in the 'Priority' column of the Ocean Portal. No configuration is necessary.

2. Routing The Submission to the Provider

Administrative staff can review submissions in the Ocean Portal and route them to the relevant provider.

Note: Providers must have an Ocean user account and be a user on your Ocean Site in order to review submissions.

  • In the 'Website Forms' area of the Ocean Portal, locate the submission within the 'New' folder and click on it to open it.

  • Review the 'Referral Form Summary' section to determine the relevant provider identified by the patient.

    Note: If you did not perform the optional configuration in Step 1, you can skip this step.

  • Select the relevant provider in the 'Needs review' field and click 'Notify'. An email notification will be sent to the provider.
  • Click 'Save and Close'.

3. Provider Reviews the Submission

  • The provider will receive an email notification informing them that a Website Form submission has been marked as needing their review.
  • Clicking the 'View the Website Form Submission' button within the email will directly open the submission in a new tab for the provider to review.
  • Alternatively, the provider can access the submission from within their 'For Me' folder in the Website Forms area in the Ocean Portal.
  • For further guidance on how to view the attachment submitted by the patient and how to import the submission and attachments into your EMR, please refer to: How do I download an attachment submitted through a Website Form?