DALLAS – Phytel is looking to restore the power of proper communication to healthcare.

The Dallas-based developer of coordinated care services from physicians to patients pushed its Proactive Patient Outreach Solution as an example of “meaningful use” of healthcare IT during the Healthcare Information and Management System’s Society’s conference and exhibition earlier this year in Chicago. Now company CEO Steve Schelhammer is serving on the executive committee of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC), which seeks to advance the concept of the patient-centered medical home.

“You’ve kind of got the planets aligning,” Schelhammer said during an interview at HIMSS09.

Phytel’s solution allows physicians to communicate with their patients about the services they need. In particular, Schelhammer said, the service works to identify patients who aren’t complying with recommended care guidelines or who have “dropped off the radar screen.”

With a motto of “motivate, optimize and extend,” Phytel combs through the databases of physician customers to identify patients in need of direct communication and sends an automated, outbound message branded with the physician. The message encourages the patient to follow through on evidence-based preventive and chronic care management programs.

Schelhammer and Guy Mansueto, Phytel’s vice president of marketing, say the key to addressing today’s healthcare consumers is in communicating with them in a fashion that grabs their attention.

“You have to be aware of the fact that people want to communicate differently,” Schelhammer said.
“It’s really all about patients self-managing,” added Mansueto.

That’s the goal of the PCPCC’s executive committee, which includes 36 members and is focused on pushing the concept of home-based care by improving the communication between doctors and patients. If patients are encouraged to take responsibility and accountability for their care, the coalition says, and if primary care practices are compensated for coordinating this care, the quality of care would improve and health costs would decrease.
“When physicians know that patients will be reminded to get the care they need for their chronic conditions or to prevent illness, they can work together with their patients more effectively to maintain and improve their health,” said Paul Grundy, MD, an IBM executive and chairman of the PCPCC. “This is an essential hallmark of the medical home.”

On June 22, Phytel added another resource to its portfolio through a partnership with Emmi Solutions, a Chicago-based provider of interactive patient engagement programs. The deal allows Phytel to notify patients who have chronic conditions or are dealing with surgical procedures about Emmi’s more than 100 Web-based, multimedia educational programs covering everything from colonoscopies to diabetes management.

“In order to truly improve health outcomes, patients need to be part of the care team and have more seamless access to information about their health care,” said Schelhammer, in a press release announcing the deal. “This functionality is a critical component of Phytel, enabling physicians to connect to their patients more efficiently outside the four walls of the clinic. Information prescriptions written by the physician and delivered by Phytel can help patients better manage their own conditions, improving the quality of care and enhancing patient safety.”