WellDoc®, a healthcare company that develops technology solutions to improve chronic disease management outcomes and reduce healthcare costs, today announced the first integration of a clinically tested mHealth coaching platform with a leading electronic health records (EHR) system. The integration of the WellDoc DiabetesManager® solution into an EHR will streamline and enhance patient care by combining a best-in-class patient coaching platform and clinical decision support with the workflow efficiency of an EHR system.
“By focusing on 'meaningful use,' we recognize that better healthcare does not come solely from the adoption of technology itself, but through the exchange and use of health information to best inform clinical decisions at the point of care.”
WellDoc's DiabetesManager, cleared by the FDA, provides automated, real-time clinical and behavioral coaching based on patient data. The software-based system supports adult type 2 patients and enables their healthcare providers to configure specific parameters and extend their care beyond traditional office visits by utilizing mobile phones and the Internet.
In a statement posted on the Health and Human Services website, Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, said: "By focusing on 'meaningful use,' we recognize that better healthcare does not come solely from the adoption of technology itself, but through the exchange and use of health information to best inform clinical decisions at the point of care."
"Historically, caring for people with diabetes required that healthcare providers manage a plethora of complex clinical information. EHRs moved us from an era of static data to accessible real-time data in the physician's hand, and now with this first integration of an mHealth solution into an EHR, we have moved into the highest value era of applying intelligent analytics to the real-time data, thus enabling providers to optimize patient care, all within their current workflow," said Suzanne Sysko Clough, M.D., founder and chief medical officer of WellDoc.
The integration automates the pre-population of a patient's health information from the EHR into the WellDoc DiabetesManager, thereby enabling immediate customization of the DiabetesManager algorithms to the patient's treatment regimen. In turn, as changes are made to the patient's Medical Record, the DiabetesManager automatically reconfigures the coaching system, enabling seamless and effective lifestyle and medication adjustments. Simply put, integrating the DiabetesManager with an EHR makes the system smarter and better able to deliver personalized behavioral coaching.
"Efficiency in physician offices is one of the key components of successfully providing quality care, especially in light of recent regulatory requirements for 'meaningful use' of electronic health records," said Dr. Richard Katz, professor of medicine at George Washington University Medical Center, the site of WellDoc's first integration. "Many physicians struggle with the administrative burden of their practice and find themselves strapped for time when it comes to the care of patients with diabetes. Having easily accessible, real-time data and analytics that provide insight into a patient's daily routine and eating habits will empower physicians to make the right treatment choices and positively impact not only patients, but also the healthcare system."
The WellDoc System addresses a pressing need for innovative approaches to diabetes treatment. In development for more than five years, the DiabetesManager System supports medication adherence and securely provides for the capture, storage, and real-time transmission of blood glucose data and other diabetes self-management information. This information is then analyzed by the company's proprietary Automated Expert Analytics System™, which identifies trends and then delivers relevant educational and behavioral patient coaching and provider decision support, thus enabling effective lifestyle and medication adjustments.
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