Sierra Health Svs (NYSE:SIE)
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Southwest Medical Associates (SMA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra
Health Services, Inc. (NYSE: SIE), announced the second phase in an
industry-leading initiative to provide paperless, electronic access to
medical information and services: “My SMA
Health Online.”
“My SMA Health Online”
improves the patient experience by giving SMA customers 24/7,
touch-of-a-finger access to communications with their medical providers.
Now SMA patients with e-mail accounts can:
Schedule, change or cancel primary care and pediatric doctor
appointments
View their medical records and test results
Request prescription renewals from their physicians
Receive e-mail confirmations on appointments
Set up and use a new account in real time
Manage and update personal and account information
View outstanding payment balances
Authorize others to schedule appointments online on their behalf
Receive e-mail alerts and notifications regarding certain account
activity.
In 2003, Sierra Health Services’ Southwest
Medical Associates became one of the industry’s
first to utilize technology to create a paperless physicians’
electronic prescribing system and allow online patient access to medical
records. “My SMA Health Online”
is the second phase of that initiative to make access to medical
services and information better, faster and easier.
“Our adoption of e-prescribing has proven to
be an excellent investment in improving patient satisfaction and the
quality of care delivered at SMA,” said
Jonathon Bunker, president, Sierra Health Services. “This
new Web portal is our continued response to meeting the needs of our
patients and to allow them greater control in and access to their
medical care.”
Prior to the online system, patient call volume at SMA’s
Call Center exceeded 150,000 calls per month. Additionally, an estimated
100,000 calls were managed at the clinic level. Calls and interactions
ranged from simple provider appointments to requests for prescription
refills and test results. Years of data on patient requests for
information in the electronic medical records and patient management
systems resulted in the plans for a Web-based, patient self-service
system. The goal was to remove or reduce caller wait time and
frustration in order to increase customer satisfaction by providing a
convenient, automated alternative to telephone service for more routine
requests.
Using additional input from focus groups and SMA physicians, Sierra
Health Services’ information technology
developers designed a Web site that is easy to understand and navigate
even for new Internet users. The initial pilot was released in spring of
2007. To ensure consumers' privacy and HIPAA compliance, the “My
SMA Health Online” web portal was developed
on HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer)
standard, and will be subject to monthly internal and third-party
intrusion detection scans. All data is secured behind a corporate
firewall.
To date, over 11,000 patients have already established and used their
accounts. “My SMA Health Online”
users quickly exhibited a preference on the site —
over 30,000 “hits”
or visits have been made to the medical records link since the new
system went live.
According to Dr. Craig Morrow, SMA Medical Director, he’s
gotten positive feedback from his patients who have used “My
SMA Health Online:” “Patients
who’ve used the system like the fact that it
is so uncomplicated and easy to use. We’ve
experienced a reduction in calls in our office, mainly because patients
don’t have to wait to get their test results.
This also reduces the time we usually spend with patients answering
questions about their EKG or cholesterol count. They already know this
when they come in for a follow-up appointment, so the dialogue is more
focused.”
With the success of the first phase of “My
SMA Health Online,” the information systems
developers and healthcare providers are continuing rollout
of the site’s capabilities. SMA Web users
will soon be able to pay bills online; schedule appointments with
specialists; access test and procedure preparations and precautions;
check prior authorization and referral status; and receive annual exam
e-mail reminders. A Spanish-language version of “My
SMA Health Online” is also in development.
Sierra Health Services, Inc., based in Las Vegas, is a diversified
healthcare services company that operates health maintenance
organizations, indemnity insurers, preferred provider organizations,
prescription drug plans and a multi-specialty medical group. Sierra’s
subsidiaries serve over 860,000 people through health benefit plans for
employers, government programs and individuals. Southwest Medical
Associates is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra and operates 14
medical clinics throughout Las Vegas, including several urgent care
centers and an outpatient surgery center. The clinics are staffed by
approximately 250 physicians and physician extenders. For more
information on Sierra Health Services and its subsidiaries, visit the
Company’s website at www.sierrahealth.com.