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Blue Shield of California, a not-for-profit health plan dedicated to providing Californians with access to high-quality care, has reportedly partnered with Office Ally to launch a new Internet portal that will help Blue Shield members arrange online “e-visit” consultations with physicians, view lab results and immunization records, order prescription refills, get appointment reminders and more.

 

The new portal -- called ‘Patient Ally’ -- is the brain child of Vancouver, Wash.-based Office Ally, which provides a new level of convenience and value for physicians and patients. It works as a specialized Personal Health Record management system that helps to manage users’ medical records and more.

 

The new portal is designed to work easily into providers’ daily routines and help physicians with electronic health records to continually update patient data, and allows those without EHRs to easily move to an electronic form of patient records.

 

“Blue Shield of California is committed to providing easy access to high-quality health care at a reasonable price, and Office Ally helps us to achieve that goal,” said Jim Orchison, director of network design and programs for Blue Shield of California. “We’ve made this new online patient portal free to all our members and to all the physicians in our network -- and we think that it will boost both efficiency and satisfaction.”

 

According to a recent survey, more than 92 percent of Independent Practice Associations in California are depending on Office Ally’s clearinghouse for claims submissions. With the addition of Blue Shield’s 3.4 million members, more than one-third of all Californians’ medical records will now be stored in Office Ally’s secure, HIPAA-compliant patient registry.

 

“Blue Shield is at the forefront of national efforts to improve health outcomes and the lives of members, and to control costs through greater use of technology,” Brian O’Neill, president and CEO of Office Ally said. “Patient Ally is helping Blue Shield to achieve their cost and quality goals by creating the circle of easy communication between patients, providers and payers.”