Platform Increases Efficiency in Specialist Referral Process and Lowers Cost
AristaMD, a digital health company focused on improving the specialty referral process, today announced that San Mateo Medical Center (SMMC), a hospital and clinic system with more than 70,000 patients, selected the company to partner in a multimillion-dollar project to develop a customized set of clinical checklists and eConsult capabilities to be implemented at up to six SMMC sites.
Provider shortages and long wait times to see specialists present increasing challenges in California and throughout the country. The AristaMD eConsult Platform will enable rapid collaboration between SMMC’s 800 healthcare providers to resolve common clinical issues, ensure appropriate referrals to specialists and reduce inefficiencies in the referral process. Designed by practicing physicians, the AristaMD platform is the only comprehensive solution in the market that offers primary care providers with validated clinical checklists that are utilized by leading academic medical centers across the country, a HIPAA-compliant eConsult platform and a robust set of data analytics tools.
“The AristaMD platform will include automated referral rules that will reduce unnecessary specialist visits and ensure that patients who do require a face-to-face visit will arrive with the necessary testing completed,” said Michael Aratow, chief medical information officer at San Mateo Medical Center. “Increasing the efficiency of the referral process and implementing a consistent standard of care across all of our providers will be important steps toward ensuring thatpatients with urgent or complex issues can get the specialist treatment they need right away.”
The AristaMD solution will be fully interoperable with SMMC’s eClinicalWorks, ED PulseCheck and Cerner Soarian electronic health records to deliver optimal care efficiency and continuity of care. Integration across SMMC’s systems will reduce unnecessary duplicative testing and ensure that all members of the patient’s care team have access to the most updated health records.
“We are excited to be partnering with San Mateo Medical Center to improve the specialist referral process,” said Rebecca Cofinas, president and CEO of AristaMD. “Unnecessary specialist referrals have significant consequences, including billions of dollars wasted on unnecessary care, clogged physician schedules with long wait times, worse health outcomes and decreased patient satisfaction. We commend San Mateo Medical Center for investing in innovative solutions such as AristaMD’s eConsult Platform.”