Press Releases
Eisenhower Medical Center Invests in RelayHealth to Enhance Physician and Community Outreach
Secure online messaging and new Results Distribution Service (RDS) targets better alignment and improved quality of hospital-physician-patient care communications
ATLANTA, Jan. 22, 2008—─As the next step in its clinical excellence initiative, Eisenhower Medical Center selected RelayHealth’s suite of online services to enhance its outreach to physician practices and the community. The renowned healthcare facility in Rancho Mirage, Calif., plans to use the connectivity services to better align hospital and affiliated physician practices with its extensive patient population for enhanced quality, patient safety, access and communications.
Eisenhower Medical Center will use RelayHealth’s powerful online services—secure online messaging and the new Results Distribution Service (RDS)—to provide participating physician practices with secure, easy access to coordinated patient information. Organizations can deploy both services quickly and maintain them affordably on the established RelayHealth intelligent network.
“Eisenhower’s investment in RelayHealth demonstrates that we have taken another major and creative step forward to improve our ‘connection’ to patients and their families and to achieve a truly connected healthcare community regardless of specialty and setting,” said G. Aubrey Serfling, chief executive officer and president for Eisenhower Medical Center. “Accessibility of the latest patient data and communications means that doctors can immediately make decisions that positively influence outcomes and create true continuity of care with every patient.”
Patients who register for RelayHealth’s HIPAA-compliant online messaging will have anytime, anywhere convenient access to reimbursable webVisit® online consultations and other physician-patient communication services. These include electronic prescription refills and renewals, test results delivery, online requests for referrals and scheduling appointments, health education information and more. Thirteen participating health plans offer the online service to their physician members.
All data populates patients’ portable and actionable personal health records (PHRs), making it one of the more compelling online features expected at Eisenhower. The integrated delivery network serves a large retiree population in Coachella Valley. With RelayHealth in place, these mostly transient patients may electronically transport their electronic PHRs to other physicians across country, helping to improve the quality of their care through connected healthcare coordination.
RelayHealth’s new RDS uses standards-based electronic data exchange to transmit lab results, radiology studies and other text results from the hospital information systems to affiliated physician offices, eliminating outmoded, time-consuming fax and paper delivery methods. Addressing Eisenhower’s patient safety initiative, the secure RDS transmission completes the patient care record with results and gives physicians access to data critical for informed decision-making. At the same time, RDS gives the hospital the opportunity to foster strong relationships with the physicians who subscribe to the results.
“RelayHealth is excited to assist Eisenhower Medical Center reach its goal of a connected and safe community in tune with the needs of their medical care practitioners,” said Jim Bodenbender, senior vice president and general manager, RelayHealth. “With the benefits gained from online connectivity, physicians at Eisenhower Medical Center can more effectively manage communications with their patients by re-engineering and automating administrative and patient care processes that have a direct impact on customer satisfaction, physician efficiency, outcomes and medical cost management.”
This latest connectivity investment builds upon Eisenhower’s recent expansion of its existing partnership with McKesson for broadscale deployment of the Horizon Clinicals® solutions suite to create and complete electronic medical records throughout the enterprise. More than 2 million clinicians nationwide rely on McKesson’s clinical solutions to deliver care. Eisenhower has already deployed the HorizonWP® Physician Portal solution for online anytime, anywhere access to patient information stored in the hospital’s systems, and it relies on McKesson for pharmaceutical supply management as well.
“We’re pleased to expand our relationship with one of the nation’s foremost healthcare centers committed to providing excellence in care to its community,” said Pamela Pure, executive vice president and president of McKesson Technology Solutions and president of McKesson’s RelayHealth business. “Online communications is gaining acceptance in mainstream adoption as more and more healthcare organizations are recognizing its value. RelayHealth connects all constituents to offer substantial benefits to both patients and the medical profession alike.”
About RelayHealth
RelayHealth operates as a neutral partner in an open network environment, offering connectivity and integration among all organizations, systems, and solutions. Its intelligent network is designed to streamline clinical, financial and administrative communication between patients, providers, payors, pharmacies and financial institutions. RelayHealth works to accelerate the delivery of high-quality care and improve financial performance through solutions such as online consultation of physicians by patients, electronic prescribing, point-of-service pharmacy claims resolution by payors, pre-visit patient financial clearance by providers, and post-visit provider bill settlement by payors and patients. RelayHealth's proven financial clearance and settlement solutions enables hospitals and health systems to confirm patient payment pre-service, collect self-pay dollars faster through online billing and customized patient statements, and effectively manage claims from inception through resolution. RelayHealth securely processes more than 10 billion financial and clinical transactions annually. For more information, call (800) 778-6711, or visit our Web site at www.relayhealth.com.
About Eisenhower Medical Center
Eisenhower Medical Center is a not-for-profit, comprehensive health care institution distinguished nationally in 2005 as a 100 Top Hospital by Solucient®, the market leader for benchmarks and trends in business health care. Eisenhower’s campus includes the 289-bed Eisenhower Hospital, the Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower, the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center at Eisenhower, and the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower. The medical center is renowned for its Centers of Excellence in Orthopedics, Cardiovascular at the Eisenhower Smilow Heart Center, and Oncology at the Eisenhower Lucy Curci Cancer Center. Situated on 130 acres in Rancho Mirage, the medical center has provided a full range of quality medical and educational services for more than 35 years for residents and visitors to the greater Coachella Valley. For more information, visit .
Media Inquiries
Janeen Cook
(770) 237-7918
Janeen.Cook@relayhealth.com
Lee Fowler
(760) 837-8652
lfowler@emc.org
