EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The redesigned RelayHealth® Enterprise Patient Portal not only allows patients to view their complete electronic personal health information1, but also to engage with multiple care providers from a single access point. The ability to acquire and aggregate clinical data from disparate technology systems is enabling health systems to deliver this superior patient engagement experience.
A new cross-portal linking feature eliminates one of the most pressing barriers that health systems face when trying to engage patients: “portal sprawl.” Portal sprawl occurs as healthcare organizations (i.e., primary care doctors, specialists, payers) launch individual portals, requiring patients to log into and out of these disparate solutions. With RelayHealth’s ability to connect to more than 240 different technology systems from various vendors, patients and providers can view complete healthcare information from across the continuum of care via a unified patient record. Patients also can communicate with their care team through a single point of access.
By leveraging this “one view” of a patient’s health information, clinicians can make more informed decisions at the point-of-care. “If a patient comes to the emergency department, the doctor can access previous test results and eliminate any unnecessary duplication of tests,” said Theresa DaSilva, RN, BSN, HIE coordinator, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, New Jersey. “For instance, if a patient comes in complaining of chest pain, the doctor might be able to log in and pull up a report on an EKG [electrocardiogram] that was performed the previous week.”
Care providers in Jersey Health Connect, a health information exchange (HIE) that includes Robert Wood Johnson as well as about 30 other healthcare providers across the state of New Jersey, now access aggregated patient information through the portal.
“Prior to using the portal in the HIE, providers would have to reach out to other facilities and wait to get the information,” DaSilva said. “Now, clinicians can get the information immediately, which really makes a difference in how patients are treated.” Providers that subscribe to RelayHealth access the patient information through an online interface while caregivers who do not subscribe simply view the information on the patient’s smart phone or tablet.
In addition, the enhanced portal is specifically built for today’s mobile patient, delivering a modern design that is accessible across any device, from smart phone to tablet to desktop computer. The RelayHealth® Enterprise Patient Portal enables true collaboration, as patients can input, track and share data with caregivers, receive reminders about treatment regimens and get answers to clinical care questions from virtually any location.
“The new design makes it so much easier. Patients have all the information at their fingertips,” said Bob Radvanski, senior director, Information Technology, Meridian Health System, a not-for-profit healthcare system in New Jersey that is also a member of Jersey Health Connect. “For example, if they are receiving follow-up care and are asked what medications they are on, it’s all right there on their smart phone.”
This improved access to information and convenient patient experience can help healthcare organizations meet meaningful use requirements while improving care and preparing for success under value-based care models. As these benefits are realized, the demand for data sharing is expected to grow significantly. The highly scalable portal platform, which already contains millions of patients, is built to acquire and aggregate data to accommodate this expected growth.
“Engaging patients and sharing data are key to improving outcomes — a primary focus of healthcare organizations,” said Ken Tarkoff, senior vice president and general manager, RelayHealth. “The challenge is that patients will not change behavior unless it is convenient. Enabling organizations such as Robert Wood Johnson and Meridian to acquire and aggregate clinical data at scale and to offer an easy-to-navigate portal makes it possible for them to meet care goals while providing patients with a single point of access to their health information and providers.”
About Meridian Health
Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization in New Jersey, comprising Jersey Shore University Medical Center and K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital in Neptune, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, Bayshore Community Hospital in Holmdel, and Meridian Partner Companies that include home health services, skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, ambulatory care, ambulance services, fitness and wellness centers, and outpatient centers. In September 2014, Meridian Health and Raritan Bay Medical Center signed a Letter of Intent to merge. In October 2014, Meridian Health and Hackensack University Health Network signed a memorandum of understanding to merge. Meridian Health has consistently been rated among the top performing health systems in New Jersey for clinical quality, is one of the FORTUNE “100 Best Companies to Work For” for six consecutive years, and is the recipient of numerous state and national recognitions for patient care and nursing excellence. Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium alongside six of the nation’s leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies. With more than 100 convenient locations, over 1,800 beds, nearly 13,000 team members, and affiliations with more than 2,000 of the area’s finest physicians, Meridian Health is a leading health care provider in New Jersey, providing quality health services, facilities, and programs. For more information, please visit www.meridianhealth.com.
About Robert Wood Johnson Health System
Robert Wood Johnson Health System is a 1,733-bed hospital system earning $1.5 billion in annual revenues while employing 10,300 workers and 3,250 medical staff throughout the state of New Jersey. Through the Robert Wood Johnson Health System, patients have access to exceptional women’s and children’s services and expert cancer, cardiac, emergency, neurology, stroke, trauma, and pediatric rehabilitation care in addition to comprehensive health and wellness programs. For additional information, please visit www.rwjuh.edu.
About RelayHealth
RelayHealth is a part of McKesson Corporation's technology solutions segment. McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We work with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that help deliver better care to patients in every setting. RelayHealth's Clinical Connectivity solutions manage the complexity that results from fragmented healthcare technology environments by delivering clinical integration, provider connectivity and patient access solutions that enable the ubiquitous exchange of information among health information technology suppliers, providers, clinicians and patients. Vendor-neutral and SaaS-based, RelayHealth solutions scale across the health system landscape to support cost-effective delivery of coordinated, value-based care. Visit our website: http://www.relayhealth.com/.
1 If patient's complete health information is part of the RelayHealth network or in the many participating patient portals RelayHealth connects to