/24-7PressRelease/ - SCOTTSDALE, AZ, May 10, 2008 - MEDSEEK, a leading provider of enterprise eHealth solutions that connect information and people for better patient care and community advocacy, announced today that Alegent Health won MEDSEEK¡¦s second annual eHealth Award for outstanding performance in utilizing eHealth web technologies to improve consumer-directed care. The award was presented to Jackie Goss, operations director for e-health innovation and development at Alegent, during MEDSEEK¡¦s 8th Annual eHealth Client Congress in Memphis, Tenn on May 5, 2008.
MEDSEEK recognizes Alegent for its unique, patent-pending, online healthcare cost estimator tool, which integrates Siemens¡¦ eligibility checking with a custom-designed cost calculator to determine out-of-pocket cost estimates for nearly 500 hospital inpatient and outpatient procedures including hospital diagnostics (CT, lab, MRI, mammography, radiology, X-ray), therapy services, select physician clinic procedures, and cosmetic procedures. All estimates are personalized based on the consumer¡¦s financial situation or reflect their individual health plan's negotiated contract rates with Alegent Health.
Alegent¡¦s MyHealth initiative with MEDSEEK is just one part of the organization¡¦s strategic plan, the ¡§Quality Revolution¡¨, which Wayne Sensor, Alegent¡¦s CEO launched in March 2005 when he and physician leaders joined together in a call for change with four cornerstones:
„« An atmosphere of innovation
„« Transparency in healthcare
„« Personal accountability for health and health care
„« Unifying objective clinical quality
Alegent began public reporting of quality scores and established a corporate blog and online discussion forum to invite employee input. In three years, Alegent¡¦s employees embraced consumerism; with 92 percent of its employees enrolled in consumer directed plans.
¡§Alegent Health's commitment to bring transparency to healthcare quality and costs has resulted in this innovative tool that empowers consumers to make more informed care decisions,¡¨ said Peter Kuhn, president of MEDSEEK. ¡§We applaud Wayne Sensor and Alegent Health on their successful launch and implementation of this ¡§first-of-a-kind¡¨ price transparency initiative, which hospitals nationwide are already seeking to replicate. Wayne Sensor is recognized locally and nationally for his ability to turn his vision of patient empowerment into reality.¡¨
The ¡§My Cost¡¨ tool will also supply uninsured consumers with a list of self-pay prices for frequently purchased services, in addition to information on financial assistance programs for cost-prohibitive services. Consumers have sought approximately 37,000 cost estimates using the ¡§My Cost¡¨ tool, which can be securely accessed via Alegent.com.
MEDSEEK¡¦s Client Congress will also serve as a forum to enable hospitals across the country to gain firsthand experience with the ¡§My Cost¡¨ estimator tool. Over 30 marketing executives from 20 hospitals and health systems across the country are scheduled to participate in ¡§My Cost¡¨ estimator workshops.
According to Wayne Senor, CEO of Alegent, ¡§It is an honor to be recognized with MEDSEEK¡¦s eHealth award. We value our partnership with MEDSEEK to drive transparency among health care providers, resulting in an environment that empowers consumers to make quality health care decisions by the use of meaningful tools and information. We look forward to help providers begin or progress along their journey to cost and quality transparency by sharing experiences about innovative new access points and the implementation of consumer-driven health plans within the workforce.¡¨
About Alegent Health
Alegent Health is the largest not-for-profit, faith-based healthcare system in Nebraska and southwestern Iowa with nine acute care hospitals, more than 100 sites of service, over 1,300 physicians on its medical staff and roughly 9,000 employees. It¡¦s making healthcare better with an exceptional commitment to quality and by providing patient focused care for the body, mind and spirit of every person consistent with its faith-based mission. Alegent Health continues the health ministry begun by its sponsors, Catholic Health Initiatives and Immanuel Health Systems. At Alegent Health, patients and their families find a continuum of care, from women's and children's services, primary care, wellness counseling, and senior care to cardiovascular services, orthopedics, oncology, physical rehabilitation and behavioral health. For more information, visit http://www.alegent.com
About MEDSEEK
Birmingham, Ala.-based MEDSEEK provides healthcare organizations with Enterprise eHealth solutions to fully engage and strengthen relationships with key constituents ¡V physicians, patients, employees, and consumers. By connecting information and communities to foster an enhanced experience with the organization, hospitals will improve community advocacy, revenue and patient acquisition/retention, physician relations, and clinical decision making. MEDSEEK¡¦s comprehensive technology platform and strategic consulting services create the infrastructure and provide the thought leadership for hospitals to deliver the most powerful Portal solutions. With more than ten years¡¦ experience and 600+ hospital customers, MEDSEEK has the experience and expertise to meet the diverse needs of the healthcare community. MEDSEEK also maintains offices in California and Mississippi. For more information, visit http://www.medseek.com or call 888-MEDSEEK.
# # #
- alegent, award, care, cdc, clinic, consumer-directed, cosmetic, diagnostics, e-health, ehealth, goss, hospital, inpatient, jackie, lab, mammography, medseek, mri, outpatient, patient, procedures, radiology, services, siemens, therapy, x-ray
Read more Press Releases from Lindsey Karberg:Other Press Release Headlines:
