More than 150 primary care physicians in Pennsylvania will soon have access to their patients’ health plan-based information through their smartphones, enabling them to keep track of prescriptions and receive important clinical alerts at the point of care.

In a deal announced Tuesday, the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies, billed as one of the largest Medicaid managed care plans in the country, will launch a six-month pilot project in its home state on October 1, offering a mobile platform to approximately 167 physicians. Those physicians will have access, via mobile devices, to patient-specific clinical and medication information, as well as e-prescribing services.

“We feel that moment between the patient and the caregiver is the moment in healthcare,” said Jay Feldstein, DO, regional president of Philadelphia-based AmeriHealth’s northern division. “This allows them to actually see the care gaps at the point of care, and to act on them.”

AmeriHealth will roll out mobile clinical care alerts and e-prescribing services through NaviNet Mobile Connect, launched this past June by NaviNet, the Boston-based real-time healthcare communications network. Through NaviNet Prescribe, the company’s e-prescribing and clinical decision support solution, AmeriHealth physicians will be able to access PerformRx, AmeriHealth’s pharmacy benefit manager, enabling them to discuss treatment plans and drug alternatives with the patient. Through NaviNet Care Alerts, those physicians will also be able to receive timely clinical messages, such as information on missed tests, procedures or therapies that should be discussed with the patient.

“Access to comprehensive, real-time patient information is a critical part of providing high-quality care, especially when it comes to treating Medicaid patients, who may see several different healthcare providers and be prescribed multiple medications,” Feldstein said in a press release issued Tuesday. “Mobile technology will allow physicians to have the latest clinical and medication information about patients covered by AmeriHealth Mercy, which will support doctor-patient engagement, a model that has been proven to improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs.”

“AmeriHealth Mercy has proven its commitment to its members by arming physicians with actionable information, when and where they need it, to help patients recover faster and stay well longer,” added S. Michael Ross, MD, MHA, NaviNet’s chief medical officer, in the press release. “AmeriHealth Mercy’s innovative use of technology to improve care and reduce costs should serve as a model for Medicaid plans across the country.”

According to Feldstein, Medicaid patients require extra attention from physicians because they generally require more healthcare services, including prescriptions, and are therefore more prone to compliance problems. This is especially important when dealing with patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure and cardiac problems.

“The goal in all of this is to really try and affect the outcomes,” he said. Since more than 80 percent of the nation’s physicians now use smartphones, he pointed out, and since communication with patients is often seen as the biggest barrier to promoting prescription compliance, “this allows them to deliver the message in person and within seconds” of receiving a care alert.

Feldstein said the mobile platform will be rolled out to AmeriHealth physicians throughout Pennsylvania and in Indiana, South Carolina and Louisiana once the pilot is completed and evaluated.

NaviNet’s offerings, which include NaviNet Insurer Connect, NaviNet PM, NaviNet EMR, NaviNet Mobile Connect and NaviNet Medicare Connect, reach roughly 70 percent of the nation’s physicians, covering more than 121 million lives. In August, the company announced a deal with Connecticut-based insurance giant Aetna to roll out new mobile tools for the iPhone, iPad and Android to doctors in Florida – the first phase of what could eventually be a nationwide rollout of mobile tools to Aetna physicians.