MediSprout, a provider of healthcare and telehealth solutions, has announced that its V2MD telehealth platform that connects physicians with their patients through video conferencing will integrate with Amazon Alexa for patient scheduling and Withings for integration with its Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor. These integrations allow patients to seamlessly schedule video appointments with their physician’s office through simple voice commands via Amazon Alexa from a patient’s home, and to share important blood pressure information through the Withings integration.
Amazon Alexa Integration
Amazon Alexa easily connects with V2MD’s user-friendly Web interface and free downloadable app. The Alexa voice command platform syncs with V2MD and gathers your doctor’s available days and times. The patient then selects what works best for them and an appointment is automatically added to the calendars of both the patient and physician. By streamlining the appointment process, physicians save valuable in office appointment time, and further enhance the patient’s care by allowing them to directly schedule follow-ups, prescription refills, or ask general questions without the hassle of playing phone tag with their physician’s office.
Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor Integration
Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor, which can be purchased at www.withings.com, Amazon and select retailers nationwide, easily connects with V2MD’s user-friendly Web interface and free downloadable app. When registering for a V2MD account to connect with their existing doctors, patients are prompted to select a medical device and the measurements they want to share with their doctor. Both can view the data in charts or graphs, and include other information related to the patient’s blood pressure prior to and during the V2MD video visit.
“Our Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor is a portable and affordable way for patients to measure and track their blood pressure without making a trip to the doctor,” says Alexis Normand, VP of Healthcare for Withings. “Connecting with V2MD by MediSprout makes it quick and easy for them to take readings and share critical information through video conference, enabling their doctors to provide immediate guidance and continued care, which has been clinically proven in multiple studies to improve patient outcomes.”
The Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor has been shown to effectively improve patient outcomes when its data is used by patients and physicians. In an 18 month study of 150 patients at four American Medical Group Association (AMGA) member organizations – (Billings Clinic, Community Physician Network, Cornerstone Health Care, and Wilmington Health) it was shown that blood pressure control rates improved from 38.6% to 70.0% when patients self-measured data was regularly shared with physicians who advised on treatment accordingly.
Televisits, like those provided by MediSprout, remove traditional barriers to care for patients as well, including travel, time off work, long wait times for quick questions or difficulty scheduling appointments in limited office windows.
“MediSprout’s V2MD allows us to go to our patients rather than waiting for them to come to us,” says Dr. Laurie Keefer, PhD, Health Psychologist and Director of Subspecialty Medical Home, GRITT-IBD, Mount Sinai Hospital of New York. “Through scheduled, face-to-face interactions via telemedicine, we are able to build relationships with patients, including those who have the most critical needs, and work with them to provide care and support before problems escalate. We can do this without burdening patient or doctor schedules, and from the convenience of their own homes.”