Industry Insight

Walgreens, NewYork-Presbyterian Ink Telemedicine Deal

NewYork-Presbyterian and Walgreens are collaborating to bring convenient access to NewYork-Presbyterian’s care services through new telemedicine platforms, now available through Walgreens digital properties and at self-service kiosks at select Duane Reade drugstores in New York. NewYork-Presbyterian, New York’s No. 1 hospital, is offering the telemedicine services as part of its NYP OnDemand suite of digital health services.

“We are delighted to work with Walgreens to bring NewYork-Presbyterian’s world-class care right to your neighborhood drugstore with this exciting new platform,” says Steven J. Corwin, MD, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian. “Patients can expect to receive focused, one-on-one care from leading physicians where and when they need it. We believe telemedicine has a critical role to play in expanding access to high-quality care, and we are proud to be at the forefront of digital health care delivery.”

The first NewYork-Presbyterian NYP OnDemand kiosk is currently available at the Duane Reade location at 40 Wall Street in Manhattan, with additional locations expected to open in 2018. These kiosks, located in private, secure rooms inside the stores, offer instant examination, diagnosis, and treatment of nonlife-threatening illnesses and injuries through NYP OnDemand Urgent Care. With the touch of a button, patients can reach board-certified Weill Cornell Medicine emergency medicine physicians, who provide exams through a high-definition video conference connection. At the end of the examination, if the physician writes a prescription, it can be instantly sent to the patient’s preferred pharmacy. Pediatric emergency medicine physicians will also be available to provide care during more limited hours. Physicians from ColumbiaDoctors are expected to participate in early 2018.

“These kiosks provide real-time care for our patients, enabling them to consult Weill Cornell Medicine physicians privately through the convenience of their local drugstores,” says Augustine M.K. Choi, MD, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine. “We are proud to work with NewYork-Presbyterian and Walgreens to extend the reach of our doctors beyond their offices, making health care accessible to patients across the city.”

“This technology gives us another way to bring Columbia physicians to the neighborhoods where our patients live and work,” says Lee Goldman, MD, dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine and chief executive of Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “Improving access to doctors is a fundamental way to improve our patients’ health and well-being.”

In addition to the in-store kiosks, Walgreens customers in the New York area using the Walgreens website can access NYP OnDemand Urgent Care to video chat with board-certified emergency medicine doctors.

“We believe that telemedicine can play a critical role in connecting patients with providers,” says Greg Orr, divisional vice president of digital health for Walgreens. “We can now help to bring awareness of services that are offered locally by trusted providers such as NewYork-Presbyterian. We are pleased that NewYork-Presbyterian will be the first local health care provider to collaborate with us on our evolving telehealth and digital strategy.”

The kiosk experience is further enhanced with medical devices to provide key information to the physician during the virtual visit. These include a forehead thermometer that measures temperature with a gentle swipe of the forehead, a blood pressure cuff to measure blood pressure, and a pulse oximeter that measures the amount of oxygen in the body. A dermascope, which allows the provider to see a high-resolution view of skin conditions, is also available.

“We’ve had much success over the years working with NewYork-Presbyterian at our on-site Walgreens pharmacy,” says Pat Carroll, MD, chief medical officer for Walgreens Healthcare Clinics. “We value this innovative collaboration and look forward to finding new and different ways to work together to enhance patient care.”

Visit times are expected to take about 10 to 20 minutes but will vary depending on patients’ individual needs. The urgent care service is designed to care for nonlife-threatening conditions, illnesses, and injuries such as sore throat, allergies, rash, pink eye, abdominal pain, asthma, cold or the flu, dizziness, fever, and sprains. For a full list of conditions, please refer to www.nyp.org/ondemand/urgent-care.

To learn more, visit www.nyp.org/ondemand/urgent-care-kiosk.

— Source: NewYork-Presbyterian

Orion Health and Koble Group Establish Multistate Public HIE

The Iowa Health Information Network (IHIN) has signed a software-as-a-service agreement with the Koble Group, a Minnesota state-certified health information organization operating on a robust platform for sharing data, powered by Orion Health. The addition of IHIN to the Koble Group Amadeus platform is a significant step forward in Koble Group’s efforts to create a multistate health information exchange (HIE) that works to cost-effectively share resources and exchange crucial health information across borders, giving providers access to more complete patient information. By utilizing shared core services and technology, collaboration among participating states and HIE organizations is greatly improved.

The Koble Group is an HIT company that specializes in HIE management services and support using Orion Health’s Amadeus platform. By expanding Orion Health’s platform from Minnesota to Iowa, participants from both states can now leverage the highly scalable solution that provides health care professionals with real-time cognitive support at the point of care.

IHIN needed an advanced technology solution that was flexible and would scale to capacity in order to connect stakeholders—including payers, public health, Medicaid, and behavioral health providers in the Iowa health care ecosystem. IHIN chose to partner with The Koble Group because of its use of the established Orion Health big data platform, as well as its HIE-specific focus. Koble currently provides HIE support services in North Dakota as well as several other HIEs across the nation.

“Our philosophy is simple; health care doesn’t stop at geographic borders, and neither should health information exchange,” says Koble Group CEO Chad Peterson. “We work tirelessly to provide value to our participants and stakeholders, and need to have a vendor and platform that supports our goals not only for today, but is scalable to support our clients—and our team—for years to come. We value our partnership with Orion Health, and are thankful they share our vision and commitment to our stakeholders.”

“Orion Health’s technology enables HIEs to make sense of the growing complexity of big health data to improve patient care, boost productivity, and lower cost,” says Dale Emerson, CEO of IHIN. “Together we can ensure more comprehensive care coordination in Iowa, providing hospitals, medical practices, government agencies, and insurers with access to accurate, real-time data.”

Orion Health’s integration technology enables clinical information to move seamlessly between different health care information systems used by various providers (eg, specialists and labs), all while maintaining the privacy, security, and accuracy of the information exchanged. Its robust functionality allows HIEs to future-proof their investment by scaling with them as they grow, offering a wide range of interoperability, population health management, and precision medicine tools, all on one open platform.

“The Orion Health Amadeus precision medicine platform and the Koble Group services are a winning combination that will best serve the citizens of Iowa and other states that choose to join the Koble HIE,” says Terry Macaleer, president of Orion Health US. “They get the benefits of a proven platform, cloud deployment, and predictable costs that are spread across several states. As patients move from state to state, physicians can access more complete patient information, one of their most critical needs to ensure quality outcomes.”

— Source: Orion Health