WebMD Provider Services today announced a partnership with SaaS patient communications leader Artera™ (formerly WELL Health) to improve access and engagement to patient education materials and medication affordability programs.
The companies’ joint capabilities will help providers improve clinical outcomes and ongoing patient engagement, as well as aim to reduce the cost of care. Patient education significantly improves patient adherence, according to an American Journal of Medicine1 study, while real-time messaging has proven effective in engaging patients with 98 percent of patients liking text messages2 and more than 95 percent feeling more connected to their care team3.
The partnership draws upon each company’s prowess in digital health to extend patient-provider connectivity beyond the point of care. The partnership combines WebMD Provider Services’ industry-leading patient education, care plan adherence and medication affordability programs with the Artera patient communications platform that enables conversations between patients and their healthcare provider through secure, multilingual real-time messaging. Medication cost savings available through WebMD RX further improve adherence, resulting in improved health outcomes.
“The benefits of effective education in improving health outcomes is undeniable, yet gaps in communication – usually pre- and post-appointment – often leave patients without information at key points in their journey,” said Ann Bilyew, SVP, Health and Group GM, WebMD Provider Services. “Artera’s platform is a highly effective means for reaching individuals with relevant and appropriate education from WebMD. Together, we are closing that gap to ensure providers can present patients with the most relevant information, based on the point in their care journey.”
Organizations using Artera as their patient communication platform will be able to deliver WebMD Provider Services’ expansive patient education and resources through their existing communication channels. This will empower healthcare providers to engage patients throughout their care journey using two-way, conversational messaging in a patient’s preferred language (with more than 100+ languages available). Artera’s bi-directional conversation platform has the ability to automate thousands of messages between patients and providers, and gracefully hands off to staff for dynamic messaging when human intervention is required.
SMS/texting is a preferred, convenient communications channel:
- 98 percent of adults in the U.S. own a mobile phone4
- 95 percent of text messages are read5
“Artera’s platform delivers messaging integrated with the EHR, patient portals and heath systems’ tech stack. We help digital health partners, like WebMD Provider Services, deliver convenient access to up-to-date patient education, on the patient’s terms and timeline,” said Guillaume de Zwirek, CEO and Founder, Artera (formerly WELL Health).
Preferred provider and patient education
- WebMD Provider Services has reached 2.7 million unique patients via its Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) integration into Electronic Health Record (EHR) platforms, powered by Krames.6
- 91% of survey respondents said they took steps to improve their health as a result of WebMD Provider Services’ video education.7
