Zoom announced this week that it had launched an integration option with Cerner’s electronic health record platform.
The initiative, which is currently available to beta customers, is aimed at facilitating easier access to telehealth from within Cerner’s EHR.
“With virtual care here to stay, providers must focus on delivering a seamless experience for telehealth visits – one that’s easy, intuitive, and frictionless for patients, and secure, trusted and simple from a clinical standpoint,” wrote Zoom Global Healthcare Lead Ron Emerson in a post about the announcement.
WHY IT MATTERS
Cerner users at hospitals, health systems, physician offices and clinics will be able to launch secure Zoom visits directly within EHR workflows, the companies say.
On the provider side, this includes functionality such as:
- In-chart notifications when the patient has entered the appointment waiting room
- The option to join scheduled sessions using a link within the patient’s Cerner PowerChart
- Test result sharing and documentation completion while in the Zoom meeting
- The ability to send an invite link to additional participants, like family members, interpreters and other care providers, so they can join the session
Clinicians can also enter and exit a visit without disconnecting the session, enabling continuity of care among multiple caregivers.
Meanwhile, patients can join video visits through a link sent to their email, with options to launch via a patient portal link or text message in the near future.
Zoom notes that patients do not need an app or a Zoom account to use the telehealth option.
Neither Cerner nor Zoom responded to requests for comment by press time about when the integration will be broadly available to all Cerner users.
THE LARGER TREND
Cerner has historically offered in-EHR telehealth services via Amwell, in addition to a company-native solution aimed at rural health systems.
The vendor did not respond to requests for comment about how the Zoom integration will affect its collaboration with Amwell.
Meanwhile, Zoom also has an integrated option with Cerner’s competitor in the EHR market, Epic.
One healthcare system told Healthcare IT News this past year that the partnership had enabled the facility to continue providing behavioral telehealth to children during the height of the pandemic.
ON THE RECORD
“Zoom’s ability to integrate with popular electronic health record platforms, including Cerner and Epic, makes it even easier to schedule, join, and document telehealth visits directly in a patient’s EHR,” wrote Emerson.
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