Patient Portal Terms of Use

Saco River Medical Group Patient Portal Agreement Policy and Procedures & Patient Agreement to Abide by Terms of Use.

The Saco River Medical Group Patient Portal (the “Patient Portal” or “Portal”) allows patients to securely view certain medical information online, as well as securely message their providers who are participating in the Patient Portal system. Use of the online Patient Portal can be a valuable tool that enhances patient-provider communication but is never a substitute for a patient visit.

Terms of Use General Policies and Procedures

The Patient Portal offers an online means to view and access certain information related to your care at Saco River Medical Group. Information related to your care is highly confidential and may include psychiatric care information.

The Patient Portal also enables Saco River Medical Group to communicate with you for non-urgent issues only. The Patient Portal is not intended to provide internet-based diagnostic medical services nor does the Patient Portal support internet-based triage and treatment requests. Diagnosis can only be made and treatment recommended after you see your provider. The Patient Portal also does not support emergency communications and services.

DO NOT use the Patient Portal to communicate (i) an emergency, (ii) an urgent issue or (iii) sensitive information (e.g. mental health information, substance abuse issues, work excuses, worker’s compensation information, other legal matters). If you experience an emergency, contact the Emergency Department or dial 911.

Proper Subject Matter

  • Use the Patient Portal to update your demographic information.
  • Be sure that all information that you enter is true, accurate, complete, and updated.
  • Be concise when typing a portal message
  • DO NOT use the ‘Contact Us’ main website link for medical related questions. That link is meant for non-private
    communications and feedback.

The Patient Portal offers the following functions

  • View and print “Continuity of Care Document” or “Health Summary”.
  • View updates to your health information.
  • View selected health information (allergies, medications, current problems, past medical history request, appointments).
  • Update your demographic information (i.e. address, phone numbers, etc.)

Not all of your health record information is included in the Patient Portal and your provider may decide, in his or her discretion, to exclude certain information even if such information is generally included in the Patient Portal. Accordingly, you should not rely on the Patient Portal as a complete health record.

Privacy

  • Portal messages from you to any staff member should be through the Patient Portal to avoid the security risks of regular email. All personal email address
  • lists will be kept confidential and such lists will not be shared with other parties, unless it is necessary to carry out Patient Portal operations (e.g. perform system upgrades to the Portal) or as required by law.
  • A variety of healthcare and administrative personnel (such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, certified medical assistants, clerks, etc.) will be involved in reading, processing and replying to your portal messages and information submitted through the Patient Portal (similar to how phone communication is handled).
  • There is no need to notify us that you have read a portal message, unless you have a question or need further information.
  • Read our Notice of Privacy Practices for information on how private health information, is handled in our facility. The privacy notice can be viewed at svmc.org.
  • If you have any concerns about privacy, please contact the Saco River Medical Group’s Privacy Officer.

Please note that, while Saco River Medical Group uses security and encryption measures to protect your information, no system can eliminate all of the risks of intentional intrusion or inadvertent disclosure of information. While using the Patient Portal, information will be transmitted over the Internet, which is a medium ultimately beyond Saco River Medical Group’s control. As a result, Saco River Medical Group cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted through the Patient Portal. Furthermore, Saco River Medical Group cannot ensure or warrant the transmission of information.

Availability of Access to Patient Portal

  • Saco River Medical Group uses reasonable efforts to make the Patient Portal available 24 hours a day and seven days a week. There may, however, be instances where the Patient Portal may be interrupted for backups, maintenance, upgrades, emergency repairs and other reasons beyond Saco River Medical Group’s control. Saco River Medical Group will make reasonable efforts to minimize such interruptions. You agree that Saco River Medical Group will not in any way be liable or responsible to you for any such interruptions to the Patient Portal.
  • Although the Patient Portal is intended to be available 24 hours a day and seven days a week, the Patient Portal is only checked during hours of operation, which are 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. You are encouraged to use the Patient Portal at any time; however, portal messages submitted after hours are held for us until we return the next business day.
  • Reasonable efforts will be made to respond to portal message inquiries within 3 to 5 business days after receipt. Response time may be longer if the Patient Portal service is interrupted for maintenance, upgrades, or emergency repairs related to events beyond our control. In this respect, you agree not to hold Saco River Medical Group, its officers, directors, employees, affiliates, agents or other staff liable or responsible to you for such modification, suspension, or disruption of the Patient Portal.
  • If the Patient Portal message function is not accessible for any reason, please contact the office at 603-447-3500
  • Access to this secure Patient Portal is an optional service and may be suspended or terminated at any time and for any reason. If service is suspended or terminated, we will notify you as promptly as we reasonably can.

Medical Advice and Information Disclaimer

The Patient Portal is not meant to replace patient appointments or direct conversations with your provider. Requesting diagnosis or treatment of new conditions is not appropriate use of the patient portal. You will be instructed to make an appointment for appropriate diagnosis and/or treatment.

II. Terms of Use Patient Portal Guidelines and Security

How our Secure Patient Portal Works

The Patient Portal is a webpage that uses encryption and other security measures designed to keep unauthorized persons from reading communications, information, or attachments. Secure portal message and information are designed to be read only by someone who knows the right password to log in to the Patient Portal site.

How to Participate in our Patient Portal:

  • Patients can be signed up for Saco River Medical Group’s patient portal while they are in the office by discussing this option with receptionist.
  • Patients can sign up also from the Saco River Medical Group web site www.sacodocs.com.
  • The office staff may also send you a portal message link which aids in portal account set up.
  • When using the Patient Portal, you agree to conduct yourself in a manner consistent with all applicable laws and regulations.
  • You agree that you shall not:
    • (a) interfere or disrupt (or attempt to interfere with or disrupt) the Patient Portal or servers or networks connected with the Patient Portal;
    • (b) transmit any file which contains viruses or Trojans or any other contaminating or destructive feature, or;
    • (c) provide any information that is false or misleading or that you do not have the right to disclose.

How to Use our Patient Portal

  1. Sign up for access through our office staff at Saco River Medical Group, or by visiting the sacodocs.com website. Children can be registered through their parents as a proxy until the child is twelve (13) years old.
  2. Registration as a proxy can be extended from age 13 through 17 after completion of specific agreements in the office and provider discussions with parents and adolescents in the office. Please call our office if you are interested in this option.
  3. After initial enrollment, you will receive a portal message with a temporary user ID and password, along with instructions on how to set up your account.
  4. After logging into the portal for the first time, review the Patient Portal User Agreement and electronically submit the Agreement by clicking Accept. *Note: If enrolling electronically by selecting “Accept” you are indicating that you have read and fully understand the User Agreement, therefore creating an electronic signature of acceptance.
  5. After the above is completed you should be all set to use the Patient Portal.

Termination

You may close your Patient Portal account at any time by contacting our office at 603-447-3500. Saco River Medical Group reserves the right to terminate your access to the Patient Portal at any time for any reason.

Available Components

  • Homepage: Allows you to view the following components of your medical record
  • My Health: Allows you to view information entered into core parts of your electronic health These are available for you to review as a health summary, vital signs care summaries, health records (may be downloaded Please not that your Patient Portal is not your complete medical record.
  • Test results: see test results
  • Appointments: Request appointments and see scheduled appointments.
  • Billing and Payments: Make payments, see statements and previous payment activity
  • Documents: documents sent directly to you from your provider such as letters, asthma action plans, etc.
  • Messages: View messages from your provider or the staff as well as send a message to your provider. Please review the section above “Availability of Access to Patient Portal”

Protecting Your Private Health Information and Risks

This method of communication and viewing information through the Patient Portal is designed to prevent unauthorized parties from being able to access or read messages while they are in transmission by using encryption. Other security measures protect information maintained within the Patient Portal site. The website for the Patient Portal has trusted site certificate, which is viewable from your browser’s task bar.

Keeping messages secure depends on two (2) additional factors:

  • (a) the secure message must reach the correct email address, and
  • (b) the authorized individual must be able to get access to it.

Only you can make sure these two (2) factors are present. We need you to make sure that we have your correct email address and are informed if it ever changes. You must also assure that you protect the confidentiality of your username and password and avoid disclosing your username or password or recording your username or password in an unsecure place. Only you or someone you have authorized through a proxy agreement should be able to access your Patient Portal. You should notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your login information or if you believe that your login is no longer confidential. We will not answer questions or send protected health information by regular email.

Conditions of Participation

Access to the Patient Portal is an optional service and, accordingly, access may be suspended or terminated at any time by Saco River Medical Group. You have no obligation to enroll in the Patient Portal and enrollment, or not enrolling, will not affect the quality or availability of your treatment.

Limitation of Liability

YOU AGREE THAT NEITHER SACO RIVER MEDICAL GROUP, NOR SACO RIVER MEDICAL GROUP’S OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, CONTENT PROVIDERS OR SUPPLIERS SHALL HAVE ANY LIABILITY TO YOU UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY OR INDEMNITY IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE PATIENT PORTAL. YOU HEREBY RELEASE AND FOREVER WAIVE ANY AND ALL CLAIMS YOU MAY HAVE AGAINST SACO RIVER MEDICAL GROUP, SACO RIVER MEDICAL GROUP’S OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, CONTENT PROVIDERS, CUSTOMERS, OR SUPPLIERS (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO CLAIMS BASED UPON SACO RIVER MEDICAL GROUP’S NEGLIGENCE, OR THE NEGLIGENCE OF SACO RIVER MEDICAL GROUP’S OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, CONTENT PROVIDERS, CUSTOMERS OR SUPPLIERS) FOR LOSSES OR DAMAGES YOU SUSTAIN IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE PATIENT PORTAL. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE PATIENT PORTAL OR ITS SERVICES IS TO STOP USING THE PATIENT PORTAL OR ITS SERVICES, AS APPLICABLE.