NEW YORK and EMERYVILLE, Calif., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- RelayHealth Corporation, the nation’s premier provider of health plan-reimbursed online doctor-patient communication services, today announced an agreement to provide secure online communication services on a pilot basis to some of the Manhattan-based Weill Cornell Physicians Organization and doctors who are part of Weill Cornell Medical College, one of the top-ranked clinical and medical research centers in the country.
With this agreement, the participating Weill Cornell Physicians gain access to the full suite of RelayHealth services, including the webVisit(R) consultation service, the eScript(R) prescribing and renewal service, online appointment requests, lab and test result reporting, and referral requests. These services will enable these Weill Cornell doctors and established patients of their New York-based practice to resolve appropriate non-urgent health matters online with convenience and security.
Under a pilot program recently announced by Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield (“Empire”), the largest health insurer in New York State, some Empire enrollees will be eligible for coverage for their webVisit services provided by the Weill Cornell physicians participating in the Relay Health service. It is hoped that additional insurers will provide coverage in the future. Where insurance coverage is not available, the patient is responsible for the webVisit charge.
“At the Weill Cornell Physicians Organization, our charge is to deliver outstanding patient care to each and every patient. By providing another channel through which to deliver that care, we’re bringing our doctors and patients even closer, and facilitating healthcare quality and privacy in the process,” said E. Darracott Vaughan, Jr., M.D., Chief Medical Officer of the Weill Cornell Physicians. “This agreement is a tremendous opportunity to enhance the doctor-patient relationship, and maximize practice efficiency in the process.”
CIMA (Cornell Internal Medicine Associates) will be the first of Weill Cornell’s 700-member primary and specialty care physician group to use the RelayHealth service. CIMA is the largest internal medicine practice in New York City. If the pilot is successful, the service may be rolled out to other Weill Cornell Physician practices.
“Many aspects of the practice of medicine can be enhanced by providing some form of secure online access. Prescriptions, non-urgent consultations, and many administrative functions, like appointment setting and lab result reporting, can be managed more efficiently and often more securely online,” said Dr. B. Robert Meyer, director of CIMA.
Weill Cornell joins the list of dozens of major medical groups and integrated delivery networks representing more than 10,000 affiliated physicians in thirty U.S. cities to have selected and licensed the RelayHealth service.
“Weill Cornell Physicians are academic leaders and groundbreaking scientists in medicine, yet they’re grounded in the most important aspects of healthcare: quality, safety and excellence in patient care,” said Giovanni Colella, MD, president and chief executive officer of RelayHealth. “They’ve grasped the incredible potential of online communication, especially in regards to the doctor-patient relationship, and we are pleased to help them realize its rewards.”
About Weill Cornell Physicians
Weill Cornell Physicians are faculty members of Weill Cornell Medical College, one of the top-ranked clinical and medical research centers in the country. They are also attending physicians at one of the most comprehensive care facilities in the world New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Weill Cornell physicians have consistently been leaders in patient care, in primary care as well as in many specialty areas as diverse as in-vitro fertilization, neurology, oncology, and HIV/AIDS care. Committed to delivering outstanding patient care with compassion and concern for each patient, Weill Cornell Physicians are providers of primary and specialty care to people from all five New York City boroughs, the metropolitan area, from across the United States, and from around the world. For more information, visit http://www.cornellphysicians.com/ .
About RelayHealth Corporation
RelayHealth is the premier provider of secure online healthcare communication services linking patients, healthcare professionals, payors, and pharmacies. RelayHealth’s Web-based, doctor-patient messaging platform connects doctors and their patients efficiently, affordably, and securely. Tuned for both small and large practice environments, 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 the healthcare market, including clinical structure, practice workflow, and reimbursement. More secure and efficient than telephone or e-mail, RelayHealth combines HIPAA-ready messaging and eScript(R) end-to-end electronic prescribing for the most seamless, comprehensive, and powerful messaging platform available to healthcare professionals and their patients. For information, visit http://www.relayhealth.com/.
RelayHealth Corporation
CONTACT: Briana Pompei of RelayHealth Corporation, +1-510-428-7853, orbriana.pompei@relayhealth.com; or Jonathan Weil of Weill Cornell MedicalCollege, +1-212-821-0560, or jweil@med.cornell.edu
Web site: http://www.cornellphysicians.com/
Web site: http://www.relayhealth.com/