subject: Emerald Health Offering A Trial Of Its Electronic Patient Referral Software [print this page] For Immediate Release For Immediate Release
(North Dartmouth, MA, December 17, 2012) ---- According to a recent study conducted by The New York Times, 65 percent of new business comes from referrals, and thanks to a company called Emerald Health, doctors, physicians, medical practice administrators, and managers will now be able to streamline the process of sending or receiving referrals.
We are now signing up customers for a trial with our new EHE software, which enables primary care physicians to send patient referrals electronically to specialist physicians, said Sanjay Gupta, spokesman for Emerald Health, a service company that specializes in providing medical billing and software to medical practices in the United States.
The companys trial offer could prove to have perfect timing.
According to Nielsen Research, an information-gathering company, companies are four times more likely to add new customers or patients when referred by a friend. In addition, 59 percent of people say that a driving force in their decision is based on word of mouth.
The new software called Emerald Health Exchange (EHE), according to Gupta, is a cloud based software solution that helps physicians communicate with other physicians who are part of EHE.
There are not too many companies in the US who offer this type of product/service and this type of product can save a typical physician a lot of money per month, Gupta stressed, before adding, Savings are achieved by streamlining the physician referral process and eliminating paperwork/waste.
The company spokesman went on to point out that currently Emerald Health, which also offers EMR or Electronic Medical Records software, and medical billing services, is in the alpha or beta testing phase with approximately 20 enrolled in testing of the product. Those participating in the trial include medical practices, VNA's, physical therapists, nursing homes, hospitals, and vendors.
Emerald Health Exchange allows physicians to save time by eliminating unnecessary paperwork, phone calls, faxing, and printing, saving money in the process, Gupta said.
Referrals are sent and received in a matter of seconds, logged online afterward for review.
Gupta noted that with Emerald Health Exchange, physicians can set auto reminders to receive reports and feedback from appointments.
This gives them the peace of mind that a patient's referral was received and not lost along the way, Gupta said. With Emerald Health Exchange, specialists can rest assured that they aren't losing money due to the currently broken paper referral system. Paperwork is replaced with an easy-to-use interface that displays referrals along with any pertinent labs, imaging studies, and PDFs.
In addition, the EHE will track referrals, procedures, and documents.
It acts like an abbreviated practice management module tracking appointments from pending to confirmation and allows the sender of the referrals to be notified as their patient is contacted and scheduled with the receiver of the referrals, Gupta said. With EHE there is no need for fax or phone to move referrals between medical entities. As one administrator from Kindred Nursing Homes stated, "This is a communication God-send.
