Hartford managed care provider Aetna Inc. and IBM have teamed up to devise a new software system that helps doctors manage patient care from several angles, The Associated Press reports.
The companies’ Collaborative Care Solution gathers patient health data from several sources, lets doctors communicate with patients through a secure messaging system and comes with other layers of help, according to Aetna’s ActiveHealth unit.
The system can help doctors track how a patient is responding to a treatment or medicine. It can tell them whether a patient missed a prescription or has conflicting ones. It also lets care providers measure their performance against quality standards.
Customers will be charged a monthly fee for the service that can vary depending on how many components of the system they use and how many physicians use it, said Aetna spokeswoman Sherry Sanderford.
She said Sharp Community Medical Group in San Diego is the system’s first customer.
