InteHealth's Patient Portal Achieves Successful Go-Live at Raritan Bay Medical Center

News provided by

Jun 05, 2014, 04:14 ET

MALVERN, Pa., June 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- InteHealth, the leading patient engagement company, announced today the successful go-live of the InteHealth Patient Portal application at Raritan Bay Medical Center, a 501 bed acute care medical center with locations in Old Bridge and Perth Amboy, NJ. The Medical Center selected the InteHealth Patient Portal after an exhaustive review of the portal marketplace.

"We were impressed with InteHealth's flexibility and predictability throughout the entire process. There were no surprises and they delivered exactly what they said they would and when they said they would do it. These people are great to work with," said Jo Ann Ferrara, MBA, RHIT, CHP and Director Health Information Management at Raritan Bay Medical Center.

Conventional wisdom in healthcare has always been that decisions are made for the patient by the clinicians providing the care. According to a recent Harris Interactive study, this model is changing rapidly. However, a great disparity still exists between what is currently available and what patients desire. For example, only 17% of patients currently have online access to their medical records whereas 65% of patients consider online access very important or important.

"This new technology will help our patients better manage their health," says Ferrara. "Patients will be able to view their medical records, download them if desired, and send them to another caregiver or family member."

The Affordable Care Act outlines the importance of transitioning patient medical records from paper charts to computerized data for providers and patients. A digital or electronic medical record (EMR) is inherently more easily shared across healthcare providers, can contain more personal health information, and allows for increased efficiency and organization of care. Equally important, an EMR coupled with online 'portals' enable individuals to access their own information, ensure its accuracy and better monitor their health.

"Raritan Bay is planning now for the future of enhanced and expanded patient engagement where patients take an increased roll in their healthcare. This in turn will lead to better outcomes, lower costs, and improved quality," said Anthony McCarley, CEO of InteHealth. "This increased level of patient engagement allows our clients to meet current and future regulatory requirements."

About InteHealth
Founded in 1997 as specialized interface consultants, InteHealth has evolved into a leading HIE vendor, verified by KLAS. The InteHealth Exchange Platform is a cloud-based solution processing millions of transactions on behalf of thousands of providers annually. In addition to solving basic and complex data integration problems for its users, the Exchange Platform serves as the foundation for two major portals: the InteHealth Physician Portal and the InteHealth Patient Portal – ICSA Labs (ONC_ACB) certified applications. These solutions allow InteHealth's clients to fulfill CMS Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements for Eligible Hospitals and Eligible Professionals. For more information, please visit our web site at www.intehealth.com.

About Raritan Bay Medical Center
With hospitals in Old Bridge and Perth Amboy Raritan Bay Medical Center (RBMC) is a New Jersey state-designated primary stroke center, a recipient of the American Stroke Association and American Heart Association Get with the Guidelines®- Stroke Silver Plus and Heart Failure Gold Performance Achievement Awards, recognizing the optimal care of stroke and heart failure patients. The hospital is one of less than seven percent of hospitals nationally to achieve Magnet Recognition for nursing excellence three times and is ranked in the top 10 percent of New Jersey hospitals in surgical care according to the 2012 NJ Hospital Performance Report. RBMC is also an affiliate Joslin Diabetes Center, providing some of the latest advances for treating diabetes and its complications as well as patient education and support services. Among its flagship programs are the Human Motion Institute, a comprehensive musculoskeletal program, and Institute for Weight Loss, specializing in bariatric surgery. For more information, visit http://www/rbmc/org.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/PH48364LOGO

SOURCE InteHealth