What You Should Know:

– Genesis Health System has signed a partnership agreement
with Bright.md to offer patients in the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois access
to its Bright.md’s SmartExam solution.

– The new virtual care offering offers an affordable way to get care for hundreds of low-acuity conditions, mental health, urinary tract infections, and upper respiratory infections including the flu and COVID-19. 

Genesis Health System, today
announced it has selected Bright.md’s SmartExam solution to power its new telehealth offering
as part of an effort to expand its digital health strategy. Patients in the
bi-state region of the Quad Cities metropolitan area and the surrounding
communities of Iowa and Illinois will now have access to another convenient,
affordable way to get care for hundreds of low-acuity conditions.

How SmartExam Works

Bright.md’s care-delivery platform, SmartExam, works like a virtual physician’s assistant. The AI-powered platform automates 90% of a primary or urgent care visit, boosting provider efficiency 15x and increasing the capacity to treat hundreds of patients in a single provider shift. Healthcare systems use SmartExam to deliver treatment for hundreds of conditions, such as flu, pediatrics, dermatology, muscular-skeletal, and behavioral health issues.

By intelligently and automatically combining patient-intake data, interview information, electronic health records, and clinical-workflow integration, the platform enables providers to rapidly diagnose and treat patients with low-acuity conditions, escalating those with more serious conditions to a higher level of care.

Why It Matters

“Demand for virtual care options was growing even before people around the country were asked to stay home due to COVID-19,” said Dr. Kurt Andersen, Senior Vice President, Physician Operations/Chief Medical Officer President of Genesis Health System. “With Bright.md’s innovative telehealth delivery platform and our umbrella of convenient care services, we’re well-positioned to address the situation at hand—for both coronavirus-infected patients and those with other conditions—and be prepared to serve the needs of our patients in a post-COVID-19 landscape.”

The pandemic has shone a light on digital health and in particular telehealth. $5.4 billion has been invested in the digital health sector this year, and analysts predict that telehealth appointments could top $1 billion by year-end. Increased demand for virtual care solutions is fueling this funding frenzy. 

Genesis has offered virtual video visits with their providers since 2015. However, Dr. Andersen and his team recognized the demand for more innovative telehealth tools to complement their current convenient care of services, especially in times of high-demand due to the pandemic. “SmartExam gives Genesis patients another telehealth option and provider’s a greater ability to navigate, triage, and treat patients virtually,” said Dr. Andersen. “And because the automation built into SmartExam streamlines provider workflows, we know our providers will also agree it is a great tool to treat our patients.”