March 7, 2020
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March 3, 2020
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Status Updates
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
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March 23, 2020 at 6:15 PM ET
Phreesia's COVID-19 Screening Module has been updated to reflect recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) regarding the outpatient assessment of pregnant women with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 as well as best practices regarding limiting the number of visitors.
For patients who complete the screening module during Pre-Visit intake who are asymptomatic and indicate no contact or travel, the alert screen will contain:
March 22, 2020 at 10:00 PM ET
Since February 10, 1.8 million patients have been screened for self-reported COVID-19 risk factors across 47 states and Washington, D.C., using Phreesia’s screening module. Self-reported risk factors include exposure risk (travel and/or contact) and symptom risk (fever and/or respiratory). Our data is one indicator—among many—of ambulatory healthcare providers' evolving response to COVID-19. That response is outlined in the phases below:
We believe that reaching Phase 3 stability quickly can help medical practices protect their patients while managing the demands of this public health crisis. This is particularly true for groups that treat older patients and patients with chronic conditions. Such groups must find ways to manage those patients remotely and keep them at home to reduce exposure risk and disruptions in care that could lead to hospitalizations for reasons other than COVID-19. For first-hand insights from ambulatory groups in Washington State, Washington, D.C., and Tampa, Florida, listen to a recording of last week’s webinar, “Peer-to-Peer: How Users are Responding to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (#COVID19).”
March 15, 2020 at 8:40 PM ET
Key data points for February 10th through March 12th*:
*Please note: This data is based on self-reported risk factors and is not representative of clinically diagnosed populations. Additionally, some states are more heavily represented than others. We will be analyzing this data on an ongoing basis to see how these trends evolve, with consideration for geographic, demographic and other factors.
It is extraordinary to see how medical groups and health systems have mobilized their COVID-19 preparedness efforts while providing care in the communities they serve.
We are grateful to our network for joining with us to keep patients and staff safe. Toward these goals, Phreesia is sharing aggregate data from medical groups and health systems that are using our self-reported digital questionnaire to screen for COVID-19 risk factors during the intake process. This data includes patients identified for COVID-19 risk before they arrived for their appointment and upon arrival at their visit.
From February 10 to March 22, Phreesia practices screened 1.8M patients across 47 states and Washington D.C. See our Status Update from 3/15/20 for previous report of this data.
Notes about the data:
March 25, 2020 at 5:45 PM ET
If you're interested in using our COVID-19 Screening Module, please click here.
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If you're interested in using our COVID-19 Screening Module, please click here.
March 30, 2020 at 6:15 PM ET
In order to best support our clients in their response to the current pandemic, this week we are introducing several new updates to our COVID-19 product offerings:
Intake for Telehealth Updates
We’ve made several updates to our Intake for Telehealth offering.
A headset icon on the Dashboard helps flag patients that are currently scheduled for a telehealth visit.
Add Session Answers for COVID-19 to Custom Questions in Appointments
Results from the COVID-19 Screening Module patient interview are shown on the Appointments Hub in the Dashboard. This is scheduled to be available to all practices on April 2.
Increased Email Announcement Quota
During the COVID-19 crisis, constant patient communication is critical to keeping your patients informed of changes in processes or important details about the virus.
We automatically increased everyone’s monthly quota to 15 emails to support the increasing need for more practice announcements.
COVID-19 Analytics Report
We replaced the COVID-19 Screening Module questions in the Patient Question Insights (PQI) report with a new COVID-19 Analytics report. This targeted report will help improve performance and provide greater visibility for COVID-19 screening.
Remove Cash/Check Option for Telehealth on Phreesia Mobile
Since many practices are now relying on Phreesia to complete intake for telehealth visits, there’s no need for patients to pay by cash or check because they will not come into the office for their appointment.
Phone Number Icon
When you click on the new phone number icon from the Dashboard, the patient’s phone number details will appear. This is scheduled to be available to all practices on April 1.
Appointment Details with Appointment Request from Interview
The Appointments Hub on the Dashboard shows appointment location, date and time for COVID-19 patients and their scheduled appointments. Your staff can use this to contact patients and minimize risk to other patients or staff.
Your practice is also able to send specialized workflows, which help facilitate a seamless check-in and allow patients to launch their telehealth session by clicking a link from our new thank you page following the completion of their interview.
April 1, 2020 at 6:35 PM ET
In order to help our clients best communicate with their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have created additional Practice Announcement and Health Campaign templates based on CDC guidelines for care. Practice Announcements are messages sent to a practice’s entire patient base, while Health Campaigns allow you to be more selective about which patients receive a specific message. New available templates include:
April 2, 2020 at 5:10 PM ET
In order to best support our clients in their response to the current pandemic, we made the following updates to our COVID-19 product offerings:
April 9, 2020 at 8:30 PM ET
From February 10 to April 5th, Phreesia practices screened 2.5M patients across 47 states, Washington D.C., and the Virgin Islands. See our Status Updates from 3/15/20 and 3/22/20 for previous reports of this data.
Notes: Patients could answer “Yes” to both recent travel and contact, so the data points may not sum to the total shown on the blue line. The question regarding travel changed last week to include domestic travel (within the U.S.).
As we began screening all patients for symptoms in March, the percent of patients reporting at least one COVID-19 symptom risk factor dropped from 10.4% for March to 8.5% in April for week ending April 5 (n= 1.7M). This is consistent with trends reported by the CDC (ILINet) that show a decline in flu-like symptoms across the US in the last two weeks.
April 10, 2020 at 4:15 PM ET
In order to best support our clients in their response to the current pandemic, we are introducing several new updates to our COVID-19 product offerings:
One-Way Patient Chat from Dashboard
We are now able to provide practices with an efficient, contactless way to communicate with patients. You can send SMS messages to patients directly from the Dashboard. This new feature is ideal for practices directing patients to wait in their cars until an exam room is ready.
Patient Chat is currently available for Early Access – please contact Phreesia to enable.
Once enabled it will be available for Administrator access only, but Admins can also grant permission for other users of their choice. All users will be able to see the new chat icon on the Dashboard.
Intake for Telehealth Update
For patients that have scheduled a telehealth visit, we can now automatically send a telehealth check-in workflow 15 minutes prior to the appointment.
If the patient has completed Pre-Visit, the patient will authenticate, complete the session and enter the telehealth workflow (i.e. a virtual waiting room). If the patient has not completed Pre-Visit, the patient will complete a full intake and then launch the telehealth session.
Practices no longer need to manually send In-Office Mobile workflows to telehealth patients. The 15-minute window prior to the appointment is the default setting, so practices can request to configure that time according to their needs.
Appointment Confirmations – Reschedule to Telehealth
COVID-19 has forced many patients and practices to cancel in-person appointments. Now, if a patient selects “Cancel” or “Reschedule” via Appointment Confirmations, we can give them the opportunity to request to change their appointment to a telehealth visit.
These requests will be monitored and managed by your staff through the Appointments Hub. We can exclude specific appointment types from this feature, if needed.
Payment Plans – Extension for Delayed Installments
Many of your patients could be facing financial hardships and unable to pay their medical bills due to the COVID-19 crisis. To help alleviate this, we made two improvements to payment plans:
Extended Delay for First Payment Date on New Payment Plans: Now when setting up a payment plan and selecting the first payment month, your staff can delay the patient’s initial payment by up to a year.
Extended Rescheduling for Existing Payment Plans: For existing payment plans, the next payment month can be modified to push payment out by up to a year.
Payment Options – “Defer Payment” Button
Your practice can now add a customizable “Defer Payment” button for patients who are unable to pay at time of registration. This is especially valuable for telehealth visits or Zero-Contact Intake, given that patients might not be able to pay by credit or debit card, but should still be able to proceed to their visit.
April 23, 2020 at 4:50 PM ET
In order to best support our clients in their response to the current pandemic, this week we are introducing several new updates to our COVID-19 product offerings:
Telehealth Integration with Zoom API
If your practice is leveraging telehealth visits through Zoom, you can now use dynamic, appointment-specific Zoom links for those visits through Zoom API.
When patients begin their In-Office Mobile interview for a telehealth visits, Phreesia will create a Zoom meeting on behalf of your providers. A unique appointment-specific link is presented to patients at the end of their interview on a custom Thank You page.
Key Features:
Telehealth Integration with Microsoft Teams
When the patient begins an in-office mobile interview for a virtual visit, Phreeisa now creates a dynamic, appointment-specific Microsoft Teams meeting on behalf of your providers. This link is presented to the patient at the end of the interview on a custom Thank You page.
Key Features:
Appointment Request Form Reason for Visit Override Logic
This update enables your practice to better identify potential at-risk patients when they request an appointment. As a result, it will alert your staff to work patients in priority order and give enhanced visibility into their patient population requesting appointments.
April 30, 2020 at 5:42 PM ET
In order to best support our clients in their response to the current pandemic, this week we are introducing exciting new updates to our Patient Chat capabilities:
Patient Chat – Two-Way Text Messaging from Dashboard
Phreesia clients can now use Patient Chat to communicate important visit information with patients using two-way text messaging directly from the Dashboard.
Within the Patient Chat overlay, you can also view the full chat history for a particular patient visit, including incoming and outgoing messages. Outgoing messages will include a timestamp, the name of the user who sent the message and an indication that it was delivered.
This new feature is ideal for practices directing patients to wait in their cars until an exam room is ready.
Patient Chat – Chat Icon Updated Based on Chat Status
The chat icon on the Dashboard is now updated based on chat status:
Additionally, you can apply a filter for Chat Status to quickly identify active chats or chats with incoming messages.
May 5, 2020 at 6:17 PM ET
As part of our efforts to help practices recover from the effects of COVID-19 and rebuild their schedules, Phreesia has released several new email templates to be used with our various communication services. These are available for preview and use in all Phreesia Dashboards.
Practice Announcements, available to all clients at no cost, allow you to send a single email to your entire patient base. We have added the following templates to our growing list of prepared COVID-19 communications:
1. COVID-19: Telehealth Availability
2. COVID-19: Telehealth Walk-in/Same-Day
3. COVID-19: We Are Here For You
Health Campaigns are a more targeted way to communicate with patients, allowing you to send specific messages to a pre-defined list of patients. New templates available here include:
1. COVID-19: Reschedule Your Upcoming Appointment to Telehealth
2. COVID-19: Reschedule Your Upcoming Appointment to Telehealth (Offices Closed)
3. COVID-19: Telehealth for Chronic Medical Conditions
4. COVID-19: Telehealth for Medicare Annual Wellness Visits
More information on how to use both of these applications is being released soon on Phreesia’s help center.
May 6, 2020 at 5:20 PM ET
Last month, the FCC launched a $200M funding program to cover telehealth expenses for eligible not-for-profit healthcare providers that apply. To date, $24.9M has been awarded to 56 providers across 23 states. Individual awards have been as high as $1M.
Phreesia recently hosted a webinar to help demystify the application process. The webinar featured John Heitmann, a partner at the law firm Kelley Drye who specializes in FCC funding, and he shared key components of the program, including:
Click to watch the webinar recording and learn more. We’ve also created an application assistance document to help you include Phreesia costs as part of your application.
Please note that funding is limited to the following provider types:
May 7, 2020 at 4:43 PM ET
In order to best support our clients in their response to the current pandemic, this week we are introducing exciting new updates to our COVID-19 product offerings:
Patient Chat Enhancements
We made several enhancements to our new Patient Chat feature.
New Templates
Patient Chat messages can now be personalized to specific patients and their visit. Users are now able to create custom message templates that can include variables, such as practice name, patient first name, provider name, etc.
These customizable templates for commonly sent messages will save your staff time and avoid grammatical errors when communicating with Patient Chat.
Mark Incoming Messages as Read
When you receive a message from a patient that does not warrant a response, you can mark incoming messages as “Read.” This helps clear the “unread” icon from the Dashboard and better identify which chats in the Dashboard still require follow up.
Please note that only users who have permission to send Patient Chat messages will be able to mark them as “Read.”
Custom Chat Expiration Time
We’ve enabled practices to configure a custom Patient Chat expiration time per location, so that all conversations are automatically closed when your office closes.
Please contact your Phreesia representative to configure custom expiration times.
Practice Communications – New Announcements & Health Campaigns Templates
We’ve enhanced our practice communications by adding new templates for Announcements and Health Campaigns.
Announcement Templates
Announcements allow you to reach out to all of your patients with little staff intervention. To help rebuild your schedule, use the following new sample templates highlighting new and alternative appointment options:
All sample Announcements templates can be found in the Phreesia Dashboard under Communications > Announcements.
Health Campaigns Templates
Phreesia’s Health Campaigns will help your practice target specific groups of patients and rebuild your schedule. These following new sample templates specifically encourage patients to schedule telehealth visits for improved safety during the pandemic:
All sample Health Campaigns templates can be found in the Phreesia Dashboard under Communications > Email Customization > Patient Outreach Program.
July 1, 2020 at 4:00 PM ET
We are delaying our COVID-19 Screening Module updates planned for 7/6/20, due to practice feedback around the recent surges of new COVID-19 cases in many states.
We have made the decision to keep the existing travel question, and are planning for additional updates, including:
We are targeting these changes for the week of 7/13 and will include the other previously announced changes around symptoms and testing at that time too. We appreciate the continued partnership from all of our practices utilizing the COVID-19 screening module and thank you all for the feedback.
A full summary of changes to expect are:
Symptoms: We have added clarifying statements to our symptoms questions to ensure that patients only report symptoms not due to other new or chronic health conditions.
Travel: We will be adding a follow-up question for patients who indicate they have traveled in the last 2 weeks, to capture where they traveled to, and will only alert practice staff for travel moving forward
COVID-19 Testing: We will be simplifying the second half of the screening module. Patients will be able to report:
If at least ONE of the following are true, an alert will trigger:
Please check out our COVID-19 Screening Module next week to view the changes.