Frequently Asked Questions
Please click on a question below to view the corresponding response:
What is the RelayHealth® service?
How does the RelayHealth service meet the needs of doctors and patients?
How is RelayHealth different from e-mail?
Is the RelayHealth service secure?
How can I learn more about the RelayHealth service or register to use it?
What is the RelayHealth® service?
The RelayHealth service is a Web-based application and messaging service, that facilitates online medical consultations and related services. Accessed via the Internet, the RelayHealth service enables secure, clinically structured, auditable communications between doctors and their patients, colleagues, and staff. Patients utilize their RelayHealth secure personal account or their doctor's interactive RelayHealth Web site to conduct webVisit® consultations, renew prescriptions, schedule appointments, receive lab results, request referrals, and access self-care information. Physicians and other healthcare professionals use RelayHealth to coordinate referrals, triage patient messages, securely route messages to appropriate or covering providers, broadcast preventive reminders, send appointment reminders and lab results, and utilize an integrated charging mechanism to assess and collect fees, as appropriate.
How does the RelayHealth service meet the needs of doctors and patients?
RelayHealth helps doctors and medical practices recoup income and reduce administrative costs while facilitating improved patient care and enhanced patient satisfaction. At the same time, RelayHealth offers patients convenience and access by enabling direct communication with the doctor's office at any time, from any place. Study results show that both patients and physicians prefer a RelayHealth webVisit® to an office visit for non-urgent needs, and that RelayHealth effectively reduces healthcare costs.
How is RelayHealth different from e-mail?
While RelayHealth is available through the Web, it's far better tuned to the communication needs of healthcare than e-mail, and its far more secure. E-mail relies on multiple servers distributed across the Internet; RelayHealth uses a single, centrally managed database for all doctor-patient communications. Unlike e-mail, RelayHealth messages are never stored anywhere but on the secure RelayHealth servers, and they cannot be read en route, deleted, copied, or altered in any way. RelayHealth provides security and an audit trail, making it superior to e-mail as a means of confidential patient communication. What's more, RelayHealth features integrated administrative and e-prescribing services for the medical office, and convenient forms and medically reviewed information for patients.
Is the RelayHealth service secure?
Embedded Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology a protocol that delivers server authentication, data encryption, and message integrity ensures RelayHealth messages can only be read by the registered doctor, the doctor's authorized staff, and the patient. Information transmitted via RelayHealth can be trusted to arrive privately and unaltered to the server specified. The RelayHealth service requires a sign-in ID and password, and can only be accessed by registered users. Patients using the service can view an audit trail detailing who has accessed their Health Record, and can terminate their online relationship with a doctor at any time preventing access to any medical information communicated via RelayHealth in the future.
What is a webVisit®?
Combining the advantages of an office visit with the convenience of online communication, the RelayHealth webVisit® is a non-urgent consultation between a doctor and an established patient. This structured consultation employs clinical guidelines and algorithms to support the interaction—guiding patients through an interactive interview, and then formulating a succinct message to the doctor based upon the answers provided. Doctors can rapidly respond to their patient by referencing the patient's online Health Record and, if they choose, a database of customizable treatment options. Doctors can also attach a prescription or tailored medical information to their response. In addition, a nurse or other clinical team member can triage and prepare responses to webVisit communications just as they would for office visits or telephone calls.
How can I learn more about the RelayHealth service or register to use it?
To learn more, contact RelayHealth Customer Support online, or call toll-free at 1-866-RELAY ME (1-866-735-2963). If you would like to sign up for the RelayHealth service, register here.
