Westborough, Massachusetts-based EMR provider eClinicalWorks has added telehealth capabilities to its mobile app. The company’s device-agnostic platform also provides tools for practice management and patient engagement, and the addition of the TeleVisits feature aims to nudge eClinicalWorks into that one-stop-shop territory.
Using eClinicalWorks’ health and online wellness (Healow) app, physicians can carry out virtual visits without going through a third party, and all information shared or submitted through the visits can be imported right back into the EHR. It’s been more than four years since eClinicalWorks first launched the Healow app, which they did alongside a $25 million investment in patient engagement strategies. The latest offering is a way of keeping up with the growing demand for telemedicine, and their tack is different than those of telemedicine industry giants like American Well or Teladoc.
“Healow TeleVisits for the smartphone is taking telehealth to a whole new level by making healthcare more accessible,” eClinicalWorks CEO and co-founder Girish Navani said in a statement. “In today’s digital health age, patients are interested in care solutions that offer quicker delivery and flexibility. Additionally, providers are seeing benefits with increased patient engagement and streamlined workflow.”
Founded in 1999, eClinicalWorks has been a long-standing EMR provider, and now counts some 125,000 doctors and nurse practitioners and 850,000 medical professionals using their software. However, things haven’t been all rosy: the company was recently slapped with allegations from the U.S. Department of Justice that it had caused customers to submit false claims for Medicare and Medicaid meaningful use payment, which is a violation of the False Claims Act. The company later agreed to pay $155 million and enter into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement to resolve the matter.