Memorial Healthcare switches to Epic-based telehealth vendor

FLORIDA, UNITED STATES — Memorial Healthcare System, one of the largest public health systems in the U.S., has found success after switching to an Epic-based telehealth vendor called KeyCare for its virtual care services.

Prior to KeyCare, Memorial Healthcare relied on a different third-party vendor to accommodate virtual patients. It encountered problems due to limited data sharing, which ultimately affected patient care. Memorial Healthcare also uses Epic for its electronic health record (EHR).

The third-party provider did not have access to patients’ medical histories, so they had to submit them again. This was an inefficient process which decreased patient inflow.

“The result was patients had to enter their medical history or medication lists and wonder why the doctor didn’t know it already, leading to patient frustration and feelings of disconnection,” said Bill Manzie, administrative director of telehealth at Memorial Healthcare System, per Healthcare IT News.

Memorial Healthcare began work with KeyCare – an Epic-based platform that offers health systems access to a nationwide network of virtual care providers – on January 17, 2023. 

In the first 10 months of the new program, Memorial Healthcare said waiting times were reduced to 10 minutes, decreased low-acuity visits going to valuable office or emergency room slots, and net promoter score (NPS) of 87 and 91% of patients identifying as promoters.

“Additionally, KeyCare providers have access to each Memorial patient’s data as they provide care and complete their notes on KeyCare’s Epic instance,” Manzie noted. “Upon completion of the visit, the encounter information is automatically sent to Memorial via Epic’s Care Everywhere and Telehealth Anywhere functionality.”