Patient Portals for Growing Clinics: Custom vs. Off-the-Shelf

Let’s say you run a growing clinic with 25 employees and 1,200 patients a month. You’re juggling appointment backlogs, piles of paperwork, and patient communication gaps – so you know it’s time to give patients an easier way to connect with your clinic and manage their care.

That’s exactly what a patient portal in healthcare is designed for. It’s the secure, online hub where patients can book appointments, check test results, message their care team, and pay bills – all without picking up the phone.

But here’s the big question: should your clinic choose a custom-built portal or an off-the-shelf solution? What’s the real difference between them, and which one will actually meet your needs as you grow?

This article will guide you through both options, providing real data on how patients use portals, so you can make the right decision for your clinic’s future.

What is a patient portal?

Think of a patient portal as your clinic’s “digital front door” – but instead of just letting patients in, the patient portal welcomes them, guides them, and helps them help themselves. 

A patient portal is a part of a healthcare CRM that helps patients book appointments, access their medical records, view test results, message their care team, and settle invoices – all without needing to make a single phone call. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), based on the 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), the share of individuals offered online access to their medical records grew from 42% in 2014 to 73% in 2022, and those actually accessing their records more than doubled from 25% to 57% in the same period. 

For example, among patients who used their portals in 2022, 90% viewed test results and 70% viewed clinical notes, making portals a key tool for keeping patients informed and engaged in their care.

How does the patient portal work? The patient portal connects to multiple backend systems, such as Electronic Medical Records (EMR), billing software, and appointment scheduling platforms, through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). This integration enables real-time access and updates to patient data without requiring manual intervention. Thus, patients can log in securely using multi-factor authentication, ensuring their personal health information stays protected.

What are the benefits of having a patient portal?

There is no chance of overestimating the importance of patient portal in healthcare. Patients offered online access are using it more than ever: in 2022, 54% accessed their records at least 3 times in a year, and nearly 1 in 3 logged in 6 or more times – almost triple the rate from 2017.

But, for a growing clinic, this isn’t just about patients’ convenience; it’s about eliminating the bottlenecks that slow your clinic down.

Patient portals for healthcare offer automated scheduling, reducing no-shows, easy access to records that saves staff time, and direct messaging that keeps patients loyal. The right portal keeps your operations lean while making patients feel valued – two key ingredients you need if you want to grow without chaos.

Now let’s get to a careful review of types of patient portals – custom and off-the-shelf.

Ready to pick the right healthcare software partner?

Get the checklist

Pros & cons of off-the-shelf portals

When we say “off-the-shelf patient portal,” we mean a ready-made software solution that you can subscribe to and start using with minimal setup. These platforms are already built, tested, and maintained by a vendor. For instance, here are some well-known patient portals in healthcare that have a standard set of patient-facing tools:

Top 3 off-the-shelf patient portal providers

1. Epic – MyChart: The most widely used patient portal in the U.S., MyChart integrates seamlessly with Epic’s EHR, allowing patients to schedule appointments, view lab results, send messages, and manage medications. It’s trusted by major hospital systems and is known for its reliability, although it’s typically available only to organizations already using Epic.

2. athenahealth – athenaCommunicator: This portal is part of athenahealth’s cloud-based EHR and practice management suite. It offers appointment booking, messaging, billing, and reminders, with strong mobile support. It’s popular among mid-sized clinics for its user-friendly interface and solid vendor support.

3. Oracle Health (formerly Cerner HealthLife): Now part of Oracle Health, the HealtheLife portal serves as a secure, mobile-friendly gateway for patients to access their health records, schedule appointments, view lab results, and communicate with their care team. Many healthcare providers still refer to it as “HealtheLife,” but Oracle now positions it within its broader Digital Front Door suite. It’s especially powerful for organizations already running Oracle Health’s (Cerner) EHR, though it can be connected to other systems through custom integrations.

Typically, all these portals include features like online appointment booking, secure messaging, test result viewing, prescription refill requests, and bill payment. They’re designed to work right out of the box and integrate with popular EMR systems. For many clinics, the appeal is clear: you don’t have to build anything yourself, and you can trust that the vendor has already handled compliance with HIPAA and other healthcare regulations. 

Yet, they also come with limitations that can affect flexibility, scalability, and long-term fit for a growing clinic. Here is a comfortable table of pros and cons of off-the-shelf patient portals:

To wrap it up: Off-the-shelf portals are much like leasing a fully equipped clinic facility; you can start operating almost immediately, with essential infrastructure already in place. However, over time, you may find that structural limitations prevent significant changes, and ongoing costs can increase without offering proportional flexibility or control.

Advantages and disadvantages of custom patient portals

On the flip side, a custom patient portal is built specifically for your clinic’s workflows, brand identity, and long-term vision, from scratch. Instead of adapting your processes to fit a pre-made platform, the software is designed around how your team operates and how your patients engage. 

Unlike many off-the-shelf solutions, a custom portal can:

• Integrate deeply with your proprietary EMR, billing, and scheduling systems for real-time data updates;
• Support specialized services such as advanced telehealth, chronic care management, rehabilitation tracking, or mental health programs;
• Offer multilingual patient experiences tailored to your community’s language needs;
• Provide personalized dashboards showing only the most relevant information for each patient;
• Enable customized appointment booking flows (e.g., pre-visit questionnaires, service-specific scheduling rules);
• Deliver integrated medication management with refill requests, dosage reminders, and adherence tracking;
• Include lab and imaging result viewers with plain-language explanations and follow-up instructions;
• Offer secure document sharing for things like consent forms, pre-op instructions, and educational materials;
• Host custom patient education libraries linked to a patient’s specific conditions or treatments;
• Allow direct care team messaging with escalation rules, triage workflows, and multi-user communication threads;
• Embed surveys and feedback forms to monitor patient satisfaction and outcomes;
• Integrate wearable device and home monitoring data for proactive health tracking;
• Provide custom analytics and reporting for both patient engagement metrics and operational performance.
• It can be designed for both desktop and mobile app access, giving patients the choice of how they connect.

For instance, according to the ONC, patients using an app to access their records log in more frequently – 42% accessed their records six or more times per year, versus only 28% of web-only users. In this case, a custom-built portal enables you to design a mobile-first experience that capitalizes on this higher engagement potential, rather than being limited by the default capabilities of an off-the-shelf platform.

Let’s look at the custom patient portal from the patient’s perspective. The user flow can also be completely customized:

1. Log in securely via desktop or app;
2. View dashboard with upcoming appointments, recent test results, and messages;
3. Book or reschedule an appointment instantly;
4. Review results and clinical notes, and request prescription refills;
5. Pay bills or set up payment plans securely;
6. Send messages or start a telehealth visit directly from the portal.

For clinics, of course, all this data is automatically integrated into your internal systems – reducing manual data entry, ensuring accuracy, and enabling real-time updates across departments.

This can be done entirely in-house if you have a development team, or through a specialized software development partner, such as Kitrum. By the way, if you have already decided to develop a fully custom patient portal, here is a helpful guide of 11 steps on how to choose an outsourcing partner.

Implementation timeline: custom vs. off-the-shelf

Implementation speed is actually one of the biggest differences between custom-built and off-the-shelf patient portals.

• Custom portals: When building a custom portal, there are two main approaches. The first is developing entirely from scratch, which gives you maximum flexibility but typically takes 9-12 months on average. The second is using pre-built components, where a software development company, like Kitrum, leverages its proven expertise, past case studies, and ready-made modules to “design” and assemble the portal around your clinic’s specific workflows. This accelerated approach usually takes 1-1.5 months, though the exact timeline depends on the complexity of your requirements.
• Off-the-shelf portals: These can be operational in 2-8 weeks because the platform is already built and tested. Setup involves configuring the system, integrating it with your existing EHR, and onboarding staff. The trade-off is limited flexibility for unique processes or branding.

Now, let’s briefly look at the pros and cons of a custom patient portal:

To put it simply, a custom portal is like designing and building your own clinic from the ground up – only you decide on the layout, technology, and patient experience. It takes more time and resources, but in return, you get full control and the ability to expand without hitting artificial limits.

The third option: custom healthcare CRM

After careful consideration of the two options above, chances are you might feel that off-the-shelf portals are too limited and fully custom builds are too costly or time-intensive. Is there a middle ground that combines the speed of ready-made solutions with the flexibility of custom development?

Actually – yes. And to understand it, let’s zoom out for a second.

As we mentioned earlier, a patient portal is often just one part of a much larger healthcare CRM system. Think of the hospital CRM as the central brain of your operations:

• Stores all patient data, communication history, and engagement metrics;
• Integrates with EHR, billing, lab systems, telehealth, and more;
• Coordinates everything from appointment reminders to follow-up care.

Meanwhile, the patient portal is like the patient’s window into that brain:

• Pulls relevant data from the CRM (appointments, results, messages) and displays it in a secure, easy-to-use interface;
• Sends back patient actions (appointment requests, form submissions, bill payments) so your staff can act immediately.

In other words, while the patient portal handles what patients see and do, the CRM manages everything happening behind the scenes to make that experience seamless and effective.

This is where Kitrum’s healthcare CRM comes in – giving you both the front-end patient portal and the powerful back-end CRM in one customizable, scalable platform.

So, why is Kitrum’s healthcare CRM an excellent option for you?

Rather than starting from scratch or settling for one-size-fits-all software, Kitrum’s healthcare CRM offers:

• Pre-configured, 50% ready core built specifically for healthcare, enabling the launch of a fully customizable, patient-centric platform in just 3 to 6 weeks, and up to 80% reduction in development time.
• Solutions for key clinic challenges like closing costly revenue cycle gaps, centralizing fragmented patient data to reduce duplication and errors, simplifying complex insurance management, and fixing communication breakdowns that cause no-shows and revenue loss.
• Patient engagement features like automated reminders and personalized messaging. The result: no-show rates cut nearly in half.
• Powerful built-in analytics that turn messy data into actionable insights and support smarter decisions and better patient care.
• Robust security controls that protect sensitive patient data, mitigate rising cybersecurity risks, and help avoid costly breaches.

To put it simply, Kitrum’s healthcare CRM combines the best of both worlds – custom flexibility without the typical time and budget drain – providing growing clinics with a scalable, efficient, and secure platform to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.

Book a demo today to experience Kitrum’s customizable healthcare CRM in action

Pick your slot

How to choose the right approach for your clinic

When considering the options above, one question that definitely arises is: how much does a patient portal cost? For SaaS-based patient portals, subscription fees typically range from $100 to $600 per month, depending on the vendor, feature set, and number of users. Custom-built solutions generally start at around $30,000 for a full from-scratch development. However, a pre-built custom approach – where existing modules are adapted to your needs – can start from as little as $10,000, offering a faster and more budget-friendly way to get a tailored portal without the full development timeline.

Besides, selecting the right patient portal can significantly impact your clinic’s growth trajectory. Because it’s not just about features or price, it’s about solving real challenges and enabling you to achieve your unique goals. So, to make the right decision, carefully go through our table created to help you:

In essence, evaluate your clinic’s priorities – speed, budget, customization, and long-term vision. The right portal should not only fit today’s needs but also enable tomorrow’s success without costly pivots.