Health
care communications software company NaviNet has introduced two products it
says will provide a unified workflow for health care payers and
providers.
Two
SAAS (software as a service) applications, NaviNet EMR
(electronic medical record) and NaviNet PM (practice management), will
communicate with NaviNet's flagship product, NaviNet Insurer Connect, a multipayer Web portal.
Both
NaviNet EMR and PM will be available in the
first quarter of 2011.
NaviNet
introduced NaviNet EMR and PM at the MGMA
2010 conference on Oct. 25 in New Orleans.
The
introduction of these two new SAAS products marks NaviNet's expansion from a
platform that allows for communication between payers and providers only to one
that also enables interaction between providers and patients, Kim Labow,
NaviNet's chief marketing officer, told eWEEK.
"We've
traditionally been known more in the marketplace for mastering the
administrative and financial transactions and interactions that providers have
with their health plans—and a little bit into the clinical," Labow said.
"We haven't been known to date to be a leader on the clinical side, so
this is really exciting for us to take a step into that world."
Still,
Labow acknowledged that the EMR space is
crowded, but she's hopeful for success due to the brand recognition of NaviNet.
In the United States,
70 percent of physicians are enrolled in NaviNet's messaging network, the
company reports.
"It
really is about bringing this information to the forefront and integrating it
into the practice's existing workflow in a really meaningful way," Chris
Buckwell, NaviNet's director of product management, told eWEEK.
NaviNet
EMR and NaviNet PM, combined with Insurer
Connect, will provide a unified interface that combines administrative,
financial and clinical workflows through a single, secure Web portal.
The
company calls the combination of all three products a unified patient
information management system, or UPIM. It provides one log-in to the EMR,
PM, revenue cycle management, and patient and payer portals and takes the
provider from beginning to end of a patient event.
NaviNet's
EMR and PM apps incorporate technology from
health care technology company CureMD and clinical communication network
RelayHealth.
If
during the workflow the software shows a gap in care, the RelayHealth component
would communicate this information to the patient, Labow explained.
The
products will help medical offices lower operating cost, reduce medical errors
and increase efficiency while boosting patient care, according to
NaviNet.
Providers
will be able to manage tasks such as patient scheduling, billing, benefits
eligibility and clinical decision support from a single interface.
The
PM product offers features such as scheduling, referral management and patient
statement cycling. Physician practices will be able to see in one Web portal a
patient's history with other practices or if a patient's copay has increased.
On
Sept. 17 NaviNet also announced an agreement
to incorporate its multipayer info in Prematics' mobile clinical application.