CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. and EMERYVILLE, Calif., April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- RelayHealth Corporation, the nation's premier provider of online doctor-patient communication services, today announced that BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee will reimburse physicians for completing webVisits for qualifying health plan members, making it the fifth major U.S. health plan to offer the webVisit benefit.
The webVisit will be reimbursed as part of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's Value-Based Reimbursement Program in which physicians will be compensated for qualified non-traditional forms of care -- including phone visits, group visits, and online visits -- in support of members with certain chronic health conditions.
"We are committed to offering services that help improve our members' health and improve our providers' ability to proactively manage care in ways that are consistent with evidence-based medicine guidelines," said Dr. Steve Coulter, senior vice president and chief medical officer for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. "By enabling and reimbursing for secure and convenient online clinical dialog between our members and their physicians, we can achieve these objectives."
During the initial 12 months of the pilot program, members with diabetes, hypertension or congestive heart failure will be able to consult their own doctors online for assistance in managing their condition. Individuals with these chronic conditions stand to benefit from improved continuity of care-with "in-between visit" access to their own doctors made convenient through clinically-structured webVisits using RelayHealth.
Throughout the first year of the Value-based Reimbursement Program, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee will collect and analyze quality of care and clinical outcomes metrics to evaluate the impact of the program, with plans to expand the program to additional members and providers pending positive results. Major medical organizations participating in the initial rollout period include Vanderbilt University in Nashville, University Physician Associates (at the University of Tennessee) in Knoxville, Memorial Health Partners in Chattanooga, and Blue Ridge Medical Associates in Johnson City.
RelayHealth enables patients to safely and conveniently access their own doctors online for non-urgent matters. The HIPAA-ready RelayHealth communication service reduces hassles commonly associated with the telephone, and mitigates security risks inherent in traditional e-mail. By clinically structuring the interaction and offering built-in clinical workflow tools, RelayHealth saves time for patients and practices alike, boosting productivity and enabling better patient service. In addition to the webVisit, RelayHealth enables online lab results transmission, online appointment requests and reminders, online prescribing and prescription refills, as well as other types of routine communications.
"The roster of health plans reimbursing the webVisit keeps growing, with good reason," notes Giovanni Colella, MD, president, and chief executive officer of RelayHealth. "By combining many of the advantages of an office visit with the convenience of online communication, the webVisit offers a unique, powerful, and clinically sound alternative to the office visit for non-urgent clinical communication and for ongoing chronic care management," adds Dr. Colella.
In an independent study conducted by university-based researchers at Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley, more than half of physicians surveyed preferred the RelayHealth webVisit to an in-office visit for non-urgent medical issues. The study also found physician satisfaction ratings exceeded 90% among regular RelayHealth users; 95% of patients who received next-business-day replies gave RelayHealth a high rating for quality and convenience.
Based on a growing body of research evidence and on the growing role of the Internet in patient-physician communication, the American Medical Association in January issued a new CPT (billing) code for "online medical consultations." The code is slated to become effective July 1 of this year. To date, RelayHealth is the only secure communication service to gain insurance reimbursement for online medical consultations -- or webVisits -- from multiple health plans.
About BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is the state's oldest and largest not-for-profit health coverage provider, serving more than 2 million Tennesseans. Founded in 1945, the Chattanooga-based company is focused on financing affordable health care coverage and providing peace of mind for all Tennesseans. BlueCross serves its members by delivering quality health care products, services, and information. For more information on BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, visit the company's Web site at http://www.bcbst.com/.
About RelayHealth Corporation
RelayHealth is the premier provider of secure online healthcare communication services linking patients, healthcare professionals, payors, and pharmacies. RelayHealth's Internet-based communication platform connects doctors and their patients efficiently, affordably, and securely. Tuned for both the small and large group practice environment, the RelayHealth(R) service improves and streamlines healthcare delivery and access through modular features-like the webVisit(R) clinical consultation-which tackle complex issues unique to healthcare, including clinical structure, practice workflow, and reimbursement. More secure and efficient than telephone or e-mail, RelayHealth combines HIPAA-ready secure messaging and eScript(R) end-to-end electronic prescribing for the most seamless, comprehensive, and powerful communication platform available to healthcare professionals and their patients. For information, visit http://www.relayhealth.com/.
RelayHealth CorporationCONTACT: Briana Pompei of RelayHealth Corporation, +1-510-428-7853, orbriana.pompei@relayhealth.com; or Bill Steverson of BCBST, +1-423-763-3039, ormedia@bcbst.com
Web site: http://www.bcbst.com/
Web site: http://www.relayhealth.com/
