LifeBridge Health Teams with Cognizant to Digitally Reimagine Physician and Patient Communications

TEANECK, N.J., April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) today announced it is working with LifeBridge Health, a leading health system in Maryland, to further innovate on a new communications system serving the LifeBridge network of more than 1,700 physicians, their patients and regional health facilities.  Built on Cognizant's Onvida software as-a-service (SaaS) platform, the system combines customizable software with 24/7 phone and online access to clinical specialists, providing integrated care coordination between medical providers, as well as personalized communication between patients and their care teams.

Cognizant's Onvida platform is a cloud-based, omni-channel, HIPAA-compliant software platform with robust data encryption capabilities. Initially implemented in summer 2015 for a discreet group of use cases, the program has expanded to include all LifeBridge physician groups and service lines.  LifeBridge Health and Cognizant are now piloting new features across the LifeBridge network, including electronic distribution of patient education materials and telemonitoring of patients after discharge.

With the Onvida platform, patients have self-service access to consultative resources and information to manage their healthcare, including appointment reminders and simplified physician referrals. Doctors receive near real-time, customized communication about their patients through preferred channels – including HIPAA-compliant text message, email, fax or phone call – facilitating better care coordination and transition of care.

Other specific benefits LifeBridge Health's network has realized from using the Onvida platform include:

• Increased patient interaction after hospital discharge. Nurse agents contacting patients while they are still in the hospital to confirm a preferred method of contact (e.g. phone, email, text) and set expectations for follow-up communications has led to increased patient follow-through, appointment scheduling, medication adherence and follow-up with primary care.
• Reduction in appointment no-shows. The number of no-shows to follow-up appointments has declined 15 percent. The new system enabled the agents to provide transportation to follow-up appointments, and gave the team the flexibility to add transportation options as part of the post-hospitalization support.
• Streamlined management of acute care patient transfers. Transfers to LifeBridge Health hospitals from other care facilities has more than doubled with the process being managed through a single integrated call center.

"The healthcare system is complex, with many people coming together to care for a patient. Coordinating that care and communicating with all those stakeholders can be a challenge," explained Jonathan Ringo, M.D., interim Chief Operating Officer at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and Vice President at LifeBridge Health. "We need innovative solutions to meet those challenges, so we are pleased to partner with Cognizant to use this customized software platform, combined with the 24/7 call center of nurse agents, to provide a suite of services that enables both patients and physicians to have their needs met."

"We're pleased to be partnering with LifeBridge Health to transform communications across their network and help them drive stronger relationships among the patients, physicians and providers," said Krish Venkat, President of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Cognizant.  "Healthcare organizations today face unprecedented challenges.  Those on the forefront, like LifeBridge Health, are increasingly transitioning to as-a-service platform models that enable them to enhance patient and physician satisfaction, while helping to optimize operational efficiencies and lower costs.  Cognizant's Onvida platform provides the digital convergence of people, business processes and technology to better connect physicians, patients and our own call center clinical staff in real-time, helping to facilitate better care and higher satisfaction."

About Lifebridge Health
LifeBridge Health is one of the largest, most comprehensive providers of health services in Maryland. LifeBridge Health includes Sinai Hospital, Northwest Hospital, Carroll Hospital, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, and related subsidiaries and affiliates. For more information, visit www.lifebridgehealth.org 

About Cognizant's Onvida Customer Experience Platform
Cognizant's Onvida Customer Experience Platform is a cloud-hosted technology suite that integrates live and digital communications to deliver best-in-class contact engagement as-a-service across industries.  Omnichannel functionality drives highly personalized experiences, connecting all stakeholders by phone, online, site chat, video chat, email, SMS and more. Onvida's Intelligent Console gives agents a single view of each customer, empowering agents to provide better quality interactions. A central reporting dashboard provides real-time insight into key performance metrics. As a cloud-based service, Onvida's soft telephony replaces hardware, reducing infrastructure costs by as much as fifty percent.

Onvida is preconfigured for healthcare applications and is integral to Cognizant's healthcare technology stack. With over $3.5 billion in annualized revenue, Cognizant's Global Healthcare practice is ranked among the top 5 on the Healthcare Informatics Top 100.

For more information: http://onvida.cognizant.com

About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ-100: CTSH) is one of the world's leading professional services companies, transforming clients' business, operating and technology models for the digital era. Our unique industry-based, consultative approach helps clients envision, build and run more innovative and efficient businesses. Headquartered in the U.S., Cognizant is ranked 230 on the Fortune 500 and is consistently listed among the most admired companies in the world. Learn how Cognizant helps clients lead with digital at www.cognizant.com or follow us @Cognizant.

SOURCE Cognizant

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