Share This Article
Super secure virtual consulting platform launched by industry experts EZMed and Medici
With telehealth gaining traction across the world at present, spurred on by country-wide lockdowns and the increasing prevalence of COVID-19, the South African telehealth sector took a leap forward this week with the announcement of a partnering between EZMed and Medici that delivers a first of its kind telehealth solution in South Africa.
EZMed is a South African gold standard when it comes to practice management software and Medici, is a top USA-based specialised virtual healthcare technology platform, created by South African entrepreneur Clinton Phillips. Medici has seen an increased uptake for its services by more than 1 000 percent over a two-week period in the USA in March this year alone.
The integrated platforms in South Africa will now offer patients and healthcare practitioners a telehealth solution that enables virtual consultation, which is extremely secure – unlike open and public channels currently in use by many practitioners. Consultations can occur via video, voice or text and most importantly, connect the patient to their own healthcare practitioner, not a randomly assigned one as is the case for most other virtual consulting platforms.
The now all-in-one platform enables practitioners to schedule appointments via the EZMed practice diary with a secure link sent to the patient via EZMed, which invites them to join the Medici application. A two-way secure flow of communication is enabled, with the patient having the ability to also initiate conversations with the practitioner if the need arises.
Importantly for patients, practitioners, and medical administrators alike, the EZMed software tracks and captures the duration of the consultation, and through its integrated billing system with funders/ medical aid schemes, generates accurate invoicing. This negates any potential for over-inflated costs or under-billing, as every consultation is logged against a specified medical code and can be done in real time.
Submission of payments to medical schemes can also be a concern for patients and practitioners, which the EZMed and Medici integration easily solves. Through EZMed, practitioners can generate their specific ICD-10 and procedure codes and submit their invoice directly to any South African medical aid scheme, which now includes claims for virtual consulting where that benefit is enabled
This vastly improves payment turnaround times for all parties concerned.
As an independent platform, the EZMed and Medici integration is healthcare practitioner driven and not led by medical aid schemes or medical insurance companies. It is non-exclusive and therefore able to service across the majority of health-related industries and practices that have a need for virtual consultation, secure patient record keeping, billing and more.
Whilst this integrated solution is particularly relevant in this time of social distancing and lockdown, it is forever changing the ways patients and practitioners interact. Technology in this sector has enabled healthcare to be far more accessible, efficient and secure, which has the benefit of saving time and oftentimes money. A trend that is certain to continue post COVID-19.
The EZMed and Medici platform operates within the regulations allowed for the practice of telehealth in South Africa and is also PoPI and HIPAA compliant. It also complies with the guidelines as set out by the Digital Health Association of South Africa.
More information can be found at: https://www.ezmed.solutions