Press Releases
University of Florida Physicians Offers Secure Online Communication Services Through RelayHealth
Web-based service offers patients a new way to access healthcare
EMERYVILLE, CA and GAINESVILLE, FL, April 19, 2006 — University of Florida Physicians, the UF College of Medicine faculty group practice affiliated with the Shands HealthCare system that provides outpatient care in Gainesville, is now using the RelayHealth service to allow patients, clinicians and staff to work together in a secure, online environment.
By using RelayHealth, UF Physicians' patients can resolve non-urgent health matters from the convenience of their computers. Patients can conduct a webVisit® consultation with participating physicians, request prescription refills and renewals, schedule appointments, receive lab results, and request referrals — all online. Clinicians and staff can communicate with patients online; reducing phone volume and time spent playing "telephone tag." With the RelayHealth eScript™ solution, doctors can also write electronic prescriptions quickly and safely and send them to the patient's pharmacy of choice. In some cases, doctors can even get paid for webVisits.
Dr. Aida Vega, UF College of Medicine's division of internal medicine associate chief, is the medical director at Tower Hill Internal Medicine and has been using RelayHealth to process prescription refills and referral requests and she will soon begin using the webVisit feature.
"My patients have given me a lot of positive feedback about the increased level of access to me and other clinic staff," Vega said. "I think it's a wonderful system. In fact, I was on vacation the other week and used it to communicate with my nurse and staff, so I could stay in the loop about my patients' needs."
"Online care provides a good opportunity to strengthen the doctor-patient relationship," said Kelly Kerr, Senior Director of Faculty Practice Clinics. "It can promote thoughtful questions, thorough replies and facilitate follow-up care that's convenient and effective for both patient and physician. This communication vehicle can increase access to healthcare without significantly increasing healthcare costs, thanks to support from our health-plan partner."
Patients benefit from improved access to their healthcare provider. They also enjoy greater convenience in managing their healthcare. Messages can be securely sent and received at any time from any computer with an Internet connection, decreasing time away from work and waiting in a doctor's office. Physicians benefit from increased productivity, expedited processing of prescription refills and reporting lab results, and improved patient satisfaction. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF) is sponsoring UF Physicians' introduction of the RelayHealth system.
"We believe that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida has a unique role in advancing the health and well being of Florida's citizens," said William Kerr, M.D., chief medical officer, BCBSF. "Through RelayHealth, we now offer physicians with the University of Florida Physicians group and their patients a safe and confidential way to communicate about non-urgent healthcare needs."
RelayHealth services are provided at no cost to patients with the exception of the webVisit feature, which carries the equivalent cost of a face-to-face office visit, for those with coverage through their insurance plan. The webVisit is an online medical interview that gathers key data about a patient's symptoms and relays it quickly and concisely to their doctor. Through a special program, patients with health coverage through BCBSF can conduct a webVisit while enjoying the convenience of accessing care online from their own doctor, saving valuable time.
Today 81 providers and their offices are currently using the RelayHealth service. Additional providers will be joining the service as RelayHealth is rolled out across the University of Florida Physicians practices.
"University of Florida Physicians has been a leader in deploying Internet-based services to improve healthcare processes," says Giovanni Colella, MD, president and chief executive officer of RelayHealth. "We are proud to add them as a client organization, and look forward to increasing the benefit we can bring to their providers and their patients through the webVisit reimbursement contracts we share with BCBSF."
"Our patients and physicians have been asking for a secure way to communicate electronically with each other, and RelayHealth provides an excellent vehicle to accomplish that," said Jane Schumaker, UF Physicians chief executive officer. "We are delighted that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida has sponsored our introduction to e-medicine and, even more importantly, recognizes the value of providing coverage of webVisits for its members."
UF Physicians' patients can access RelayHealth through Shands.org.
About University of Florida Physicians
UF Physicians is the faculty group practice of the UF College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla.,
and is affiliated with the Shands HealthCare system. The practice includes more than 850
physicians practicing in 42 clinical sites. www.shands.org
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is a leader in Florida's health industry. BCBSF and its
subsidiaries serve more than 8.3 million people. Since 1944, the company has been dedicated
to meeting the diverse needs of all those it serves by offering an array of choices. BCBSF
is a not-for-profit, policyholder-owned, tax-paying mutual company. Headquartered in Jacksonville,
Fla., BCBSF is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an
association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information concerning
BCBSF, please see its Web site at www.bcbsfl.com.
About RelayHealth Corporation
RelayHealth is the premier provider of secure, online healthcare communication services. The
RelayHealth platform connects patients, clinicians, payers and pharmacies to improve clinical
productivity, create administrative efficiencies, reduce costs and enhance patient satisfaction.
Medical practices can quickly deploy RelayHealth to realize immediate results such as increased
physician productivity and reduced phone volume. With the RelayHealth Interoperability Toolkit,
practices can also integrate RelayHealth with most major commercial or custom electronic
medical record and practice management systems. RelayHealth's robust suite of solutions for
the medical office includes secure messaging featuring the webVisit®, and end to end e-prescribing
through eScript™. The RelayHealth communications platform also enables care management and
continuity of care through tools such as a Patient Health Record that interoperates with
physician and payer clinical systems. For more information, visit www.relayhealth.com.
