MVP Health Care Connects Capital Region Physicians and Patients Through RelayHealth

As part of MVP Health Care’s corporate initiative to improve health care quality by promoting primary care and the adoption of electronic medical records, MVP has enabled more than one hundred Capital Region providers to offer their patients the convenience and efficiency of secure online webVisits and e-communication from the comfort of the patient’s home, office or any location where Internet access is available. To date, this initiative has supported more than 10,000 secure messages, including webVisits, between physicians, staff and patients in the Capital Region.

(Vocus) July 20, 2010 -- MVP is offering Capital Region physicians who participate with the health insurance company immediate reimbursement and financial subsidies to defray the cost of deploying the RelayHealth service.

“Relay Health allows confidential communication with our patients, helping our staff to manage patient requests more efficiently,” said Dr. Raymond Carrelle of Latham Medical Group, who is one of the 35 physicians and non-physician providers in the Community Care Physicians multi-specialty medical group who are among the first in the Capital Region to adopt RelayHealth and offer it to their patients.

“Adopting RelayHealth is an important part of Community Care Physicians’ deployment of electronic health records to archive and access patient data,” Dr. Barbara Morris, Pediatrician at Community Care Pediatrics-Saratoga and Chief Medical Officer of Community Care Physicians. “The online service is very quick and easy to send prescriptions or refills, and allows patients to easily communicate with their physician,” said Dr. Morris.

Physicians and patients using RelayHealth find it to be an easy, convenient and efficient way to exchange information. From the comfort of their home, office or any location with Internet access, MVP members can complete a webVisit online evaluation of their non-urgent symptoms, such as sinus or back pain. The webVisit's step-by-step clinically structured interview captures detailed information to help their physician make an informed care decision.

RelayHealth also offers patients and physicians a wide array of other connectivity services to facilitate health information exchange, including: lab results, personal health record (PHR), appointment and referral requests, patient health education and electronic prescribing. This online service helps enrolled MVP members conveniently deal with routine issues, while enabling physicians to utilize office visit time to treat patients with complex needs.

The relationship with RelayHealth is another step in MVP’s strategy to use innovative technology to create a connected community that enables participating physicians to securely exchange health information with their patients and their provider colleagues.

“Adoption of RelayHealth will improve physician and patient access to information,” said Dr. Salkowe, MVP Health Care vice president of clinical quality Improvement. “Physicians can make better use of their time. RelayHealth captures and organizes clinical and administrative information in a useful and useable manner so that all stakeholders can be confident the doctor has the information needed to make decisions.”

“Empowering MVP members with the ability to engage with their physician through online services provides a more convenient way for patients and families to interact with their physician," said Augusta Martin, MVP Health Care vice president of marketing innovation and chief of marketing. “Our members will be able to consult with their physicians on their schedule without missing time from work, which employers find beneficial as well. Physicians will benefit from the improved productivity, efficiency and patient satisfaction.”

“We are honored to be working with MVP Health Care in support of their goal to use technology as a means to facilitate health information exchange between its members and their physicians,” said Jim Bodenbender, president of RelayHealth’s Connectivity Solutions. “Our goal is to help MVP members and participating health professionals enhance overall efficiencies and patient care as well as physician and patient satisfaction.”

MVP Health Care is an active partner with providers in developing innovative technologies to improve care delivery and medical practice efficiencies. MVP’s initiatives include medical home demonstration projects in Rochester, Syracuse, the Hudson Valley and the Adirondack region in New York state and in Vermont and New Hampshire. MVP plans to leverage RelayHealth by empowering patients with online tools to manage chronic or other medical conditions in their homes, and serving as a conduit to interconnect with other providers geographically.

About MVP Health Care
Founded in 1983, MVP Health Care is a regional, not-for-profit health insurer based in Schenectady, N.Y. Through its operating subsidiaries, it provides fully insured and self-funded employer health benefits plans, dental insurance, and ancillary products, such as flexible-spending accounts, to 750,000 subscribers in New York State, Vermont and New Hampshire. For more information, visit: www.mvphealthcare.com.

About RelayHealth
RelayHealth, McKesson’s connectivity business, operates as a neutral partner in an open network environment, offering connectivity services 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, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and financial institutions. RelayHealth works to accelerate the delivery of high-quality care and improve financial performance through solutions such as 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 securely processes more than 12.8 billion financial and clinical transactions annually across its diverse connectivity businesses. For more information, call (800) 778-6711, or visit our Web site at www.RelayHealth.com

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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/07/prweb4283604.htm.