Electronic health record vendor Cerner announced on Wednesday that it was collaborating with New York Life to provide secure access to EHRs.

The partnership represents a move into the life insurance industry from Cerner, aimed at accelerating underwriting decisions and simplifying the application process. 

"We’re focused on helping life insurance companies return underwriting decisions quickly and accurately with near real-time digital-record delivery from across the country," said Art Glasgow, senior vice president of strategic growth at Cerner, in a statement.  

WHY IT MATTERS  

The collaboration aims to support New York Life in accessing hospitals' EHRs in near-real time, with patient consent, according to the companies.

Another goal is to make it easier for individuals to apply for life insurance, while also easing the administrative burden on healthcare providers.  

"These efforts are an important part of New York Life’s ongoing drive to leverage digital health data to accelerate life insurance underwriting," said Alex Cook, head of strategic capabilities at New York Life.   

"With the support of these innovations, New York Life has reduced application processing time and streamlined the process for consumers to meet their life insurance coverage needs," Cook added.  

New York Life is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States, based on 2020 revenue – and as reported by Forbes. 

"Reducing friction in the life insurance application process has proven to be incredibly relevant in today’s virtual world and tremendously beneficial to consumers," said Cook.  

THE LARGER TREND  

Other EHR companies have partnered with life insurance companies to try tp streamline the application process. Back in 2012, experts noted that EHRs could help facilitate transactions with such companies in response to frequent claim requests.  

In 2019, Allscripts subsidiary Veradigm announced a partnership to work with MIB, which provides data-driven risk-management services for the life insurance industry.  

ON THE RECORD  

"Our collaboration with New York Life helps create a faster, more efficient process that improves the experience for both life insurance applicants and insurers," said Glasgow.

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Email: kjercich@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.