Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center is stepping into the forefront of the Army Medical Command’s efforts to improve patient communication and encourage patients’ active involvement in their own care by launching Intuit Health’s Secure Messaging pilot project. The Patient Portal using Intuit Health-Medfusion is a secure and interactive webbased suite of services designed to improve patient and provider communication, thereby improving provider accessibility, patient satisfaction, and quality of care.

Intuit Health is a commercial, off-the-shelf software suite used by over 32,000 providers serving over 2,500,000 patients, with 93,000 transactions each day across the country. Intuit Health is Eisenhower’s answer in rising to the challenge of providing more effective and efficient ways for patients to interact with DDEAMC and their health care team.

Intuit Health is currently available to all patients who are assigned to Eisenhower’s Family Medicine Clinic, Troop Medical Clinic number 4 or the Community Care Clinic on post.

Once the patient registers for Intuit Health access via the DDEAMC website (www.ddeamc.amedd.army. mil), they will be able to request patient appointments and medication refills online through the Patient Portal.

Health Care Providers will also be able to send their patients the results of laboratory and radiology studies via secure e-mail. Future services that may be implemented as the Intuit Health project is fully implemented include virtual office visits, lab results requests, appointment reminders, symptom assessment, and Ask a Doctor/Nurse/Clinician. Patients may obtain further information on how to register and use the system at their assigned clinics.

“We are excited about the potential benefits for all our patients and staff,” stated Lt. Col. John Farr, Eisenhower chief of Family and Community Medicine. “If I was running my own private practice, I would absolutely want to have this for my patients. Intuit Health is an excellent product that will enhance patient services. Patients will now be able to get medication refills processed within one working day. They can also request an appointment with their health care provider and get a response in a few hours. The ability for providers to notify patients of their lab, radiology and other medical study results by secure e-mail is a real upgrade. In addition, the potential to expand services in the future with a tool like the Virtual Office Visit is very exciting.”

We value your time because your time is valuable! The Patient Portal using Intuit Health enhances communication with the use of secure, web-based messaging directly between the patient and the DDEAMC health care team. Intuit Health services will provide patients with secure and convenient communication tools.

This is a vast improvement over the current telephonic messaging service system that is cumbersome and requires a clerk to translate the phone message to a written note for the provider. Eliminating and/or reducing the need for a transcription service and telephonic services will reduce possibilities for errors and improve the timeliness of responding to the patients’ needs.

A key component of the program is its ease of patient registration and access. Intuit Health will be accessed from a link off the DDEAMC public webpage. Once there, patients will be able to create an account by filling out a short questionnaire similar to an application for a web-based email account. Once their account is created, patients will be able to immediately begin utilizing the system.

Intuit Health Questions and Answers

What is Intuit Health? What services does it offer?

• Secure, web messaging - communication with your health care provider

• Prescription renewal and requests

• Appointment requests – not the same as book an appointment through Tricare Online

• DDEAMC’s pilot project is the first in the Army. The Navy has successfully piloted the service at Bremerton

How will patients register? Will they need to? How will patients access?

• Patients will need to register similar to applying for a username and password for a common web page or internet based e-mail account

• Registration process has been developed; Intuit Health Patient Portal will be accessed through DDEAMC public website using the Patient Portal link to request an account [www.ddeamc.amedd. army.mil]

• Web site is accessible from any location with an internet connection

• Clinic Staff have information handouts on how to register to use Intuit Health

Will the service be available to all beneficiaries or just active duty?

• Initially, the service was available to only active duty service members. Now through the Patient Portal on the DDEAMC website, it is open to all beneficiaries assigned to the Family Medicine Clinic as well as active duty through TMC number 4 and Connelly Clinic.

How is it different from Tricare Online or TOL? Will it replace or supplement TOL?

• Intuit Health is a commercial off the shelf service that has been successfully implemented in civilian practices nationwide

• Intuit Health offers many similar services provided by TOL, but provides some distinctly different services that are advantageous to the patient

• Intuit Health is intended to supplement the services provided by TOL

Why did DDEAMC want Intuit Health suite?

• Patient benefit - to our patients to increase access to their medical providers

• Faster results – more timely and successful communication

• Asynchronous communication: provider and patient communicate on different timelines but when convenient for either

• Encourage patients’ active involvement in their own care as a patient safety strategy

• Improve the accuracy of patient identification

• Improve the effectiveness of communication among caregivers

• Accurately and completely reconcile medications across the continuum of care

• Potentially will save providers one half day of work in answering/ responding to telephone consult requests, with increased clarity and direct response to patients via secure e-mail

What is the Intuit Health implementation timeline?

• Pilot began Feb. 22 for TMC number 4

• Community Care Center implemented March 21

• Family Medicine Clinic began implementation April 18

Other clinics will be added with implementation being announced 30 days out.