ENT and Allergy Associates Initiates Breakthrough Technology Resulting In Far Greater Patient Ease and Convenience

Tarrytown, NY - ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP (ENTA), the largest and most comprehensive ENT medical practice in the country seeing 50,000 patients a month, today announced that it has selected Medfusion, the preeminent patient portal provider, to facilitate and enhance the practice's patient-to-provider communication experience.

ENTA patients will now be able to go ENTA's website (www.entandallergy.com) and with a few clicks of a mouse take care of otherwise time consuming tasks - like filling out all paperwork prior to their visit. Being able to electronically manage appointment requests, request prescription renewals, and even receive messages from the practice in a secure HIPAA compliant environment will have an immediate and enormous impact on the physician/patient relationship.  And the fact that patients can do all of this from the comfort and convenience of their home or office is a huge benefit. But the patient benefits don't stop there. In fact, ENTA is looking to link its patient portal system to its many hospital partners, to further facilitate the flow of patient information between physician practices and hospitals.

This move to an easy and convenient patient portal is wholly consistent with ENTA's overall innovative commitment and track record, and will also serve to enhance the flow and transfer of patient information between and across provider networks. Medfusion's HealthKey allows healthcare providers to have patient demographics securely saved so that the next time a patient logs on to another participating doctor's portal, the information will already be populated.

"We're very pleased that this technology will enable us to better communicate with our patients, more conveniently serve their needs, and get them more involved in their care management," said Wayne Eisman, MD, President of ENTA.  "Simply stated, our patient portal will make things much easier for our patients, and nothing makes us happier." Robert Glazer, CEO of ENTA weighed in, "Our patient portal will truly improve our efficiencies and, over time, significantly reduce operating costs for physician practices.  Between this and our Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems, we fully expect to enter a world where patients will benefit from real portability of their medical records.  In fact, we are already looking to link to our hospital partners to enable a far better flow of patient information among all healthcare providers, for the patients' benefit...this is what the future of medicine is all about."

Excited about the partnership with ENTA, Medfusion's CEO, Steve Malik added, "We are thrilled to partner with the country's largest ENT practice that also happens to be on the cutting-edge in healthcare information technology.  Our partnership with ENTA enables them to give their patients a self-service experience by interacting with the practice through the patient portal at their convenience.  Likewise, the portal enables ENTA to respond to the patient within hours, and now the patient-physician relationship has been enhanced - there isn't any phone tag or waiting on hold for an excessive amount of time. It's a win-win method of communication for both the patient and the practice."

To join ENTA's online services, patients simply go to ENTA's website click on Create an Account, and register on the secure network by answering a few quick questions. 

Over 30,000 patients join a Medfusion-hosted portal weekly to securely communicate with any of over 28,000 physicians on the Medfusion Physician Network. Patients don't need to take time out of their day to place a call that would most likely result in long hold times or phone tag.  A patient can utilize the portal anytime of the day, from anywhere, and typically receive a response from the practice within 24-hours. 

About ENT and Allergy Associates
ENT and Allergy Associates (ENTA) is the largest ENT doctor, allergy and audiology practice in the country, with 32 offices in Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Rockland, and Nassau counties in New York, New York City (NYC-Manhattan) and Somerset, Morris, Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic counties in New Jersey. They offer the convenience of a large group practice, with multiple office sites, and feature state-of-the-art care for ear, nose, throat and allergy disorders, and offer a variety of highly specialized procedures that utilize the latest medical technology.

About Medfusion
Medfusion is a Cary, NC-based company that provides patient-to-provider communication solutions that enable healthcare providers to offer superior service to their patients while improving office efficiency and generating revenue. Medfusion's powerful, web-based solutions virtually transform patient communications with applications for pre-registration, appointment requests and reminders, outbound messaging, lab results delivery, prescription renewals, online bill payment, virtual office visits, and more, including uniquely-branded content-rich web sites. Medfusion is ranked #1 by KLAS in the "2008 Software Category" for secure patient portals. For more information, please visit www.medfusion.net.

Contacts:
ENT and Allergy Associates
Jason Campbell
914-984-2531
[email protected]

Medfusion
Yvette Cole
919-882-2841
[email protected]
www.medfusion.net
www.twitter.com/medfusion