SAN FRANCISCO and VANCOUVER, Wash.—January 11, 2010 — Blue Shield of California and Office Ally today announced the launch of a new Internet portal that will let Blue Shield members arrange online “e-visit” consultations with physicians, view lab results and immunization records, order prescription refills, get appointment reminders, and more. The portal, called Patient Ally, is now available to all Blue Shield of California members at PatientAlly.com.
Developed by Vancouver, Washington-based Office Ally, Patient Ally provides a new level of convenience and value for physicians and patients. “Blue Shield of California is committed to providing easy access to high-quality health care at a reasonable price, and Office Ally helps us to achieve that goal,” noted Jim Orchison, director of network design and programs for Blue Shield of California. “We’ve made this new online patient portal free to all our members and to all the physicians in our network—and we think that it will boost both efficiency and satisfaction.”
Roughly 92 percent of all Independent Practice Associations (IPAs) in California already use Office Ally’s clearinghouse for claims submissions. With the addition of Blue Shield’s 3.4 million members, more than one-third of all Californians’ medical records will now be stored in Office Ally’s secure, HIPAA-compliant patient registry.
Patient Ally is designed to work easily into providers’ daily routines. It enables physicians with Electronic Health Records (EHR) to continually update their patient records, and allows those without EHRs to easily move to an electronic form of patient record.
