Rex Healthcare, a North Carolina-based not-for-profit health system, is implementing a “virtual community” to promote collaboration between patients and physicians.

Through a new contract with MEDSEEK, a Birmingham, Ala.-based provider of enterprise healthcare portal connectivity solutions, Rex Healthcare will deploy the eHealth ecoSystem.

“To engage and enhance loyalty among patients and consumers, clinicians and employees, we made a strategic decision to implement all of the eHealth ecoSystem’s experience solutions in a very aggressive timeframe,” said Novlet Bradshaw, the health systems chief information officer. “Prioritizing the experience of any one group over another was simply not an option. Everyone in our organization is excited and supportive of an enterprise-wide rollout.”

Rex Healthcare officials said that by making it easier for physicians and patients to interact with the health system and each other, the solution could help to improve the quality of care and patient satisfaction.

During the multi-year agreement with MEDSEEK, Rex Healthcare will be implementing:

* A refreshed consumer experience that leverages Rex Healthcare’s existing Web assets and positions Rex to capitalize on social media efforts.
* A pricing transparency solution that offers patients the ability to estimate actual out-of-pocket costs for multiple healthcare diagnostic and inpatient procedures. The solution will provide patients with an up-front estimate of the out-of-pocket expenses they may incur, after insurance, for a procedure performed at a Rex Healthcare facility.
* A single-screen view for physicians of their patients’ aggregated health information. The health system looks to leverage this to improve clinical decision-making and improve outcomes, physician workflow and patient satisfaction. The health system also looks to take advantage of stimulus funds with this deployment.
* A solution improving access to job-specific human resources information, pre-interview paperwork for prospective employees and streamlining communications and interaction during the onboarding process.