By ERIN DIETSCHE | Oct 17, 2017
It’s early in the week, but there have already been a number of deals inked within the health IT industry. Involving everything from telemedicine providers to EHR vendors, here are three of the hottest initiatives you need to know.
On October 16, Medtronic and American Well announced a partnership focused on using telehealth to aid chronic, comorbid patients.
Through the agreement, the companies will seek to provide patient access to American Well’s telemedicine services on Medtronic Care Management Services’ video-enabled platforms. Information from MCMS’ remote patient monitoring will be given to clinicians using American Well’s service. In turn, the data from those telemedicine visits will be able to be integrated into MCMS’ clinical management software.
Overall, Medtronic and American Well want to give patients better access to their care team and give clinicians greater access to the information they need.
“Our work together will help clinicians gain a more complete view of a patient’s health status when making care decisions, and will help ensure access to information from telemedicine interactions is available to the broader care team while the patient remains in their own home,” Sheri Dodd, MCMS’ vice president and general manager, said in a news release.
A new initiative between CVS Health and Epic has a different focus. Together, the companies will use analytics to give prescribers additional visibility to lower-cost drugs for patients.
CVS Health will utilize Epic’s Healthy Planet population health and analytics platform to gain valuable information about dispensing patterns and medication adherence.
The ultimate goal is multi-faceted. Prescribers can give patients information about cheaper alternative medication options that are covered by the patient’s insurer. Additionally, the joint effort will give pharmacists additional access to clinical information and enable them to contribute to the patient’s care plan.
A third collaboration includes another EHR vendor. Through a new API-based integration, Allscripts and Zocdoc are making it easier for patients to book appointments.
The integration creates a connection between Allscripts’ scheduling software and Zocdoc’s online scheduling platform. It is currently available to new and current practices using both Allscripts and Zocdoc.
The initiative is made possible through Zocdoc’s participation as an integrator in the Allscripts Developer Program.
“We’re proud to work with Allscripts to help physicians maximize their time, create efficiencies for office staff, improve access and deliver the simple, connected experience patients expect and deserve,” Joaquin Gamboa, Zocdoc’s chief legal officer and head of new business and government affairs, said in a statement.
Photo: mediaphotos, Getty Images
