Press Releases
Diagnostic Clinic Improves Patient Access and Saves Staff Time through Secure Online Communications
Diagnostic Clinic Sends Over 12,000 Messages in 1 Month Using RelayHealth Services
LARGO, FL, April 26, 2006 — Diagnostic Clinic patients have embraced a new online communications service more quickly than anyone expected. Just five months after launching the service, over 7,000 patients have registered and over 35,000 messages have been securely exchanged online between physicians, office staff and patients.
"Instead of making several attempts to communicate by telephone, we can connect electronically right away", explains James F. Rivenbark III MD, chief medical officer at the Diagnostic Clinic. "It not only saves time for both patients and staff, but it's a much more convenient way to handle non-urgent matters."
Diagnostic Clinic operates three clinics in Pinellas County Florida: a large multi-specialty medical clinic in Largo, another multi-specialty medical clinic in Clearwater, and an ophthalmology clinic in Palm Harbor. A call center handles inbound calls from patients for all three locations. In an average month, the call center handles well over 60,000 phone calls.
Dr. Rivenbark notes that, "RelayHealth improves our operational efficiency as well as increasing patient satisfaction. When communication is phone dependent, the calls must be taken as they are made. RelayHealth's electronic format allows clinical personnel receiving messages to stratify and reallocate the tasks to a less busy time of day. The patient-customer is not on hold or having to call back repetitively and the staff's time is used more productively."
To deliver secure online communications that would improve the patient experience, Diagnostic Clinic partnered with RelayHealth. The service was introduced in September of 2005, and currently 77 primary care and specialty physicians are using the service. Diagnostic Clinic offers several RelayHealth communications services: Note to Doctor, Appointment Requests, e-prescribing and delivery of lab results. Patients most frequently use Note to Doctor and Appointment Request. Communications are private, HIPAA-compliant and more secure than email. In the future, they plan to offer patients the ability to do webVisit® online consultations and use the Note to the Office to help resolve billing questions.
"The public is really ready for this," said Mary Schneider, LPN, Clinical Manager. "It's the convenience of lying in bed at 11:00 p.m. and thinking 'Boy, I really need to schedule that annual exam' and being able to do something about it, right at that moment. Another big plus is that we can send messages to all regarding time sensitive issues; we used this feature last year alerting our patients that we had Flu Shots available." She notes that patients don't have to wait on hold or play phone tag.
Avoiding the phone is a very attractive benefit of using the RelayHealth service for patient Elaine Crowley of Seminole, FL. When the staff at Diagnostic Clinic told Crowley about the service, she signed up immediately. "I didn't need to use it right away, but then I had some blood work done and I was delighted to use my online account to request the results and schedule an appointment. I didn't have to waste any time waiting by the phone, and I got answers back to all of my questions right away." Crowley is looking forward to seeing her Diagnostic Clinic physician online using a webVisit. "If I can skip a trip to the office, I would prefer to see my doctor over the Internet."
Through a program sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, RelayHealth offers all of the Diagnostic Clinic patients the safety and convenience of accessing their own doctors online for non-urgent matters. "We're very pleased to bring the convenience of secure online communication to our members here in Florida," said William Kerr, M.D., chief medical officer, BCBSF. "Our physicians are enthusiastic about the benefits for their patients. RelayHealth has built a package of services that promises greater efficiency, convenience and value for both members and providers."
About Diagnostic Clinic
Diagnostic Clinic is a physician owned multispecialty medical group practice which has
served the healthcare needs of the Pinellas Suncoast for over 35 years. Over one
hundred healthcare professionals provide comprehensive out-patient care for your
entire family in modern facilities with convenient on-site state-of-the-art testing
services. Diagnostic Clinic is also a recognized leader in quality and innovation
in health care. Diagnostic Clinic's online health portal is www.dc-fl.com.
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.
