February 22, 2007- IBM today announced that Duke Medicine has teamed with IBM to develop and launch a single, unified health portal site where patients can securely and easily access data and services, including personal health profiles; clinical content; account billing and insurance information, with the eventual aim of closing the communication between patients and physicians.
Based on a service oriented architecture (SOA) using IBM software and services to connect information from disparate systems, the Duke HealthView allows patients and eventually physicians to access and manage health information and services more efficiently and effectively from one single site.
“In order to build deeper relationships with our patients, we needed a unified communication tool that would bring together different data for a holistic view,” said VP Diagnostic Services and Duke University Health System and Duke University Medical Center CIO Asif Ahmad. “Through the HealthView Portal, IBM is helping Duke Medicine improve patient satisfaction and safety by giving patients and clinicians the information they need to work together for better health outcomes.”
The HealthView Portal is designed with a single user authentication to give Duke patients the capability to securely retrieve health-related information, request and book medical appointments; view and manage account information; pay bills; maintain personal health and insurance information.
Also, as part of the health portal implementation, Express and Kiosk Check-in are planned to give patients the ability to complete registration and clinical forms online prior to an appointment to save time and help shorten in-clinic wait times. Additionally, with the HealthView Portal, patients will have the means to personalize health news and disease management information; connect to online support groups; obtain pre-operative preparation information; schedule remote medical consultations and participate in clinical trials recruitment and enrollment.
Physicians and referring clinicians will also be able to securely utilize the HealthView Portal in the near future for a variety of information including patient medical history and health data; lab results; medication lists and medical reference materials. The portal will also help physicians book appointments for patients, as well as operating suites, and allow for consultations with other Duke medical specialists.