Cerner Simplifies Patient Communication

Rhea-AI Summary

Cerner Corporation (Nasdaq: CERN) announced new communication capabilities to enhance patient engagement and streamline clinician workflows. This collaboration with WELL Health Inc. integrates into Cerner's patient portal, moving interactions from email to text messaging. The initiative aims to improve communication efficiency, reduce administrative burdens, and provide personalized care experiences. Potential benefits include improved patient satisfaction, retention, and reduced time spent on scheduling and billing. Cerner's HealtheLife platform will automate critical health communications and support timely patient interactions.

Positive

• New capabilities improve patient engagement and communication efficiency.
• Automation features will reduce administrative time for clinicians.
• Enhanced patient satisfaction expected through timely communication.
• Integration with WELL Health provides a person-centric digital experience.

Negative

• None.

New capabilities will unify and automate previously disjointed communications, enhance patient engagement, and save clinicians time

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cerner Corporation (Nasdaq: CERN), a global health care technology company, today announced new capabilities designed to take interaction between clinicians and patients beyond email to text message conversations, helping solve for a gap in communication in health care. The new features, in collaboration with WELL Health Inc. and to be integrated into Cerner’s patient portal, are designed to help improve patients’ engagement with clinicians through intelligent and automated communication.

More than 5 billion people spend nearly a quarter of their day on their mobile phones. In fact, in the last few years, the number of active cellphone subscriptions exceeded the number of people on Earth. Giving patients the same person-centric digital experience in health care as they receive from other industries has become increasingly important. Teaming with WELL Health, Cerner will make technology more useable for health systems and patients by meeting consumers where they are spending their time.

“Cerner is committed to making it easier for providers to create the engaging, comprehensive health care experiences that patients expect and deserve,” said David Bradshaw, senior vice president, consumer and employer solutions, Cerner. “By bringing patient data from different systems and streamlining in one unified view, we are strengthening our clients’ ability to build meaningful relationships with patients through a convenient, digital experience that has become a part of everyday life.”

Through Cerner’s HealtheLife^SM, the new capabilities will pull from a myriad of systems and apps to help improve communication and reduce administrative time for clinicians and staff. Organizations can use the new automation features to deliver critical health information, send flu shot reminders, reschedule appointments, schedule virtual visits and prompt patients to set up needed medical transportation. Additional benefits are expected to:

• Improve patient satisfaction, retention and acquisition through timely communication and reduced hold queues, missed calls and email delays.
• Save time spent scheduling and communicating with patients by using automated workflows that reply and route based on patient responses.
• Reduce time spent on billing and payment collections by auto-notifying patients when new bills are ready for payment.
  

“WELL Health is focused on what patients expect today – near real-time, personalized communication on their terms. We aim to move beyond the days of playing phone tag, leaving voicemails and expecting patients to continue showing up,” said Guillaume de Zwirek, CEO and founder, WELL Health. “WELL Health supports patients to text their health care provider like they would text a friend. For a provider’s staff, WELL Health is designed to unify and automate disjointed communications across the organization, helping to reduce unnecessary stress and limiting potential errors.”

About Cerner
Cerner’s health technologies connect people and information systems at thousands of contracted provider facilities worldwide dedicated to creating smarter and better care for individuals and communities. Recognized globally for innovation, Cerner assists clinicians in making care decisions and assists organizations in managing the health of their populations. The company also offers an integrated clinical and financial system to help manage day-to-day revenue functions, as well as a wide range of services to support clinical, financial and operational needs, focused on people. For more information, visit Cerner.com, The Cerner Blog or connect on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or The Cerner Podcast. Nasdaq: CERN. Health care is too important to stay the same.

About WELL
WELL Health’s intelligent communications hub is the only two-way digital health solution engaging patients throughout their entire care experience. WELL Health enables conversations between patients and their providers through secure, multilingual messaging in the patient’s preferred communications channel: texting, email, telephone, and/or live chat. WELL Health facilitates 1 billion messages for 31 million patients annually. By unifying and automating disjointed communications across healthcare organizations, WELL Health reduces unnecessary provider stress and potential errors, while increasing patient visits and loyalty.

Founded in 2015, WELL Health is based in Santa Barbara, California. It is consistently the highest-rated patient engagement software on G2 and Capterra. In 2020, WELL Health was named among the Best Places to Work by Modern Healthcare and ranked #170 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies.

Media Contacts:
Cerner
Austin Cozzolino, External Communications, (816) 446-1280, austin.cozzolino@cerner.com

WELL
Adrianna Hosford, Communications, (310) 709-1961, adrianna@wellapp.com

FAQ

What new features has Cerner introduced for patient communication?

Cerner has introduced new capabilities that facilitate text message conversations between clinicians and patients, enhancing engagement and automating communication.

How will the collaboration with WELL Health benefit Cerner's clients?

The collaboration will streamline communication processes and reduce the administrative burden on healthcare providers, improving overall patient care and satisfaction.

What are the expected outcomes of Cerner's new automation features?

Expected outcomes include improved patient satisfaction, reduced scheduling time, and enhanced workflows for billing and communication.

When was the announcement made regarding Cerner's new capabilities?

The announcement was made on November 11, 2020.