The portal gives clients a private place to manage their care with your practice. Everything here is scoped to the signed-in client and audited. Staff turn it on and choose what it offers under Set up the client portal.
Signing in
Clients open your practice's portal link and enter the email address on their record. A six-digit code arrives by email, valid for 15 minutes; there is no password. The first time, staff send them a Grant portal access link from their profile. Text and email nudges from FrontDesk (a new secure message, a form to complete) link straight to the portal.
Home
- Next visit with the same actions as the Appointments tab: Join video visit when it is a video visit, Reschedule when moving is allowed, and a More menu with Add to calendar and Cancel visit.
- To do: forms and consents dated to the next visit ("3 things to finish before Thursday"), questionnaires to complete, a treatment plan or a release to sign. Finished items drop off.
- Book an appointment when nothing is scheduled.
Appointments
Upcoming visits show a status and actions; past visits fold away after three.
- Cancel opens a dialog with your policy. Inside the window it names the fee and how it will be collected, and the client ticks "I understand the fee" before confirming. Outside the window, no fee. Staff get a notification, the slot is offered to the waitlist, and the client gets a confirmation text. See Cancellation and no-show fees.
- Reschedule shows open times from your booking page's availability for the same provider. Inside the window a late-change fee applies the same way, or the move can be blocked online.
- Book an appointment starts from the client's usual visit type and provider. With a booking page in request mode it becomes a booking request for staff to confirm; in instant mode it books at once. Without a booking page the client sends preferred days and times of day, and staff pick the time.
Practices connected to athenahealth: cancels, moves, and bookings go to athena first, and a client whose chart is not linked sees their athena visits read-only.
Messages
A secure thread with the practice. The client reads and replies in the portal; an unread badge and the browser tab title show new messages. See Secure messaging.
Documents
- Needs you: forms to complete, a care plan to sign, releases to sign, each with a summary line.
- On file: the signed care plan, releases, completed forms, superbills, files staff shared, and Your record: a PDF copy of the chart, a data file (JSON), and Who your records were shared with with its own PDF. See Discharge and records release.
Questionnaires (PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5) open from the to-do list or a link; the client sees a thank-you, never the score. See Outcome measures.
Billing
Current balance with Pay balance, open invoices, payment history, the card on file (add, replace, remove, with a consent line), and the client's payment plan with a Pay now button for the next installment. See Card on file and autopay and Set up a payment plan.
Profile
The client's contact details, which they can update themselves while Profile editing is allowed in the portal settings.
On a phone
The tabs become a bottom bar: Home, Visits, Messages, and More (Documents, Billing, Profile, Sign out). Dialogs close on Escape or a tap outside.