Medfusion Acquires Medem’s iHealth Services
The combined set of patient-to-provider online communication solutions provides added value to physicians and patients and creates the largest online network in the U.S.
Cary, NC, and San Francisco, CA, July 21, 2009 — Medfusion, the leader in patient-to-provider online communication solutions, today announced that they have acquired Medem’s iHealth suite of services for physicians and the iHealth Personal Health Record solution for patients.
“This is a very exciting opportunity for both Medfusion and our clients. This acquisition will accelerate the expansion of our patient communication platform and enable Medfusion to provide even more value to physicians and patients,” said Steve Malik, founder and CEO of Medfusion. “With the ARRA stimulus funding nearly in place and the definition of “meaningful use” to include patient access and communication, patient portal technologies are a necessity for physician practices today. The acquisition of the iHealth services allows Medfusion to both broaden our solution offering and provide even more options for physicians to enhance communication with their patients.”
Today, millions of registered patients communicate with over 20,000 physicians using Medfusion’s online solutions. Online patient communication — or patient portals — is the fastest-growing segment of healthcare IT, with over 20,000 patients joining a Medfusion-hosted portal weekly. Patients can then communicate securely with their physicians for important tasks like appointment requests, prescription renewals, filling out paperwork … even conducting “e-visits.” The days of being handed a clipboard with paperwork to fill out in the doctor’s office — 30 minutes before a patient visit — are long gone. Virtually any type of communication between practice and patient is now available online, and being used extensively today. In fact, Medfusion patient utilization is on track to exceed twelve million patient interactions in this year alone. Ed Fotsch, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Medem commented, “The Medfusion suite of patient-provider communication services will offer new features and functions for iHealth providers that will advance care quality and efficiency. The combined Medfusion-iHealth network creates the dominant patient-provider network in the country.”
Medfusion provides solutions for both practice and patient, and both Medem and Medfusion offer Personal Health Records (PHRs) for patients. PHRs enable patients to build, manage, and share secure, online versions of their personal health information. With the acquisition of the Medem iHealthRecord PHR adding to their already widespread user base, Medfusion now offers the most highly-used and adopted Personal Health Record in the industry.
In addition to creating an expanded service offering, Medfusion welcomes Medem’s 8,000 providers into the Medfusion Physician Network. Medfusion’s Referral Portal, a secure tool for physicians to exchange patient referral information, is just one of many physician communication solutions that will bring enhanced value to the Network as well as to patients in the form of a secure, closed-loop online communication process for patient referrals.
About Medfusion
Medfusion is a Cary, NC-based company that provides patient-to-provider communication solutions that enable healthcare providers to offer superior service to their patients while improving office efficiency and generating revenue. Medfusion’s powerful, web-based solutions virtually transform patient communications with applications for pre-registration, appointment requests and reminders, outbound messaging, lab results delivery, prescription renewals, online bill payment, virtual office visits, and more, including uniquely-branded content-rich web sites. Medfusion is the preferred portal and website provider for the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and was ranked #1 by KLAS in the “2008 Software Category” for secure patient portals. For more information, please visit www.medfusion.net.
About Medem
Based in San Francisco, Medem was founded by the AMA and several national medical specialty societies to develop and provide secure, online communications services for physicians and other healthcare providers — including hospitals and health systems — to communicate with their patients. Thousands have implemented iHealth Services to improve consumer engagement, advance disease management, increase efficiency, and decrease costs.