Salesforce Unveils Telehealth Solution for Salesforce Health Cloud, Enabling Two-Way Video to Drive Deeper Patient Engagement

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, today announced a telehealth solution for Salesforce Health Cloud, enabling two-way video chat that gives patients the ability to connect face-to-face with their care teams from any mobile device. Caregivers currently use Health Cloud to get a complete view of their patients, manage their care holistically and engage with them in new ways. Now, with two-way video chat for Health Cloud -- powered by Salesforce SOS -- providers can deliver more timely, convenient and contextual care, increasing overall patient satisfaction.

More than 191 million¹ smartphones are in use in the United States today, and this trend is changing consumers' expectations across all industries, including how they want to interact with their healthcare providers. In fact, Salesforce's recent "2016 Connected Patient Report" revealed that 62% of U.S. respondents with health insurance and a primary care provider would be open to virtual-care treatments, such as a video conference call for non-urgent matters. In addition, care providers are under enormous pressure to lower costs in an era when 65% of emergency room visits are avoidable² and hospital readmissions can lead to huge penalties under Affordable Care Act guidelines.³

Introducing Telehealth Capabilities for Health Cloud — Powered by Salesforce SOS
Health Cloud, released earlier this year, is a patient relationship management solution that provides a comprehensive view of the patient, smarter patient management and connected patient engagement. Salesforce's telehealth solution extends these capabilities by enabling providers to connect directly to patients through two-way video chats and share their screens on iOS or Android mobile devices.

With two-way video for Health Cloud, care team members and patients can immediately see and talk to each other about general health matters -- such as checking-in on a chronic condition or discussing preventive tips for staying healthy -- using the camera on a patient's smartphone. Patients just need to press a button within their providers' Health Cloud mobile app to engage the smartphone's camera and connect with their caregivers in real-time, from any location. Care teams can assess problems directly, provide additional educational resources or schedule an office follow-up.

Most importantly, when care teams connect with patients through two-way video chat, Health Cloud automatically pulls up the patient's medical profile, including cases, records and family data, so that providers can provide highly personalized and contextualized support.

Telehealth solutions like two-way video chat for Health Cloud can be used for scenarios ranging from health coaching and education, to post-discharge care, to replacing existing nurse call lines. This ultimately increases quality-of-care, saves time, lowers costs associated with expensive doctor or emergency room visits, and reduces readmission penalties for providers.

Salesforce is working closely with its ecosystem of partners in the implementation of its new telehealth solution in Health Cloud, including Persistent Systems, Silverline and other partners deploying and extending the capabilities of two-way video in the product.

Comments on the News:

• "Consumers today expect to connect with their healthcare providers in the same way they FaceTime with family members. Providers who can provide the best platform for engagement -- on the devices patients use day-to-day -- will find the most success in this highly connected world," said Joshua Newman, M.D., GM, Salesforce Healthcare and Life Sciences. "By bringing two-way video to Health Cloud, we can both help patients get the engagement they're craving and enable providers to improve outcomes at lower costs."
• "Integrated patient care solutions represent the future of healthcare technology and present a massive opportunity for the industry to digitally transform and create a stronger relationship between patients, care providers and practitioners," said Robert Van Tuyl, chief innovation officer of Easter Seals Bay Area, a Salesforce Health Cloud customer. "Easter Seals Bay Area and Salesforce are collaborating to lead the way in the industry in terms of trailblazing better ways to deliver services, and we are excited to be a part of this next wave of healthcare innovation."
• "Patients are, first and foremost, consumers who increasingly use mobile devices in many aspects of their lives. Healthcare is no different and healthcare organizations and professionals should actively be seeking to increase mobile patient engagement," said Lynne Dunbrack, Research Vice President for IDC Health Insights. "Incorporating mobile engagement into patient relationship management solutions is a natural evolution that the market is demanding."

Additional Information

• Learn more about Salesforce Health Cloud at http://www.salesforce.com/healthcloud.
• Salesforce SOS is available in Health Cloud today. Learn more about Salesforce SOS and pricing at http://www.salesforce.com/service-cloud/features/snap-ins/

Pricing and Availability
Salesforce SOS is generally available today with Health Cloud at $150 per user per month.

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About Salesforce
Salesforce, the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, empowers companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: http://www.salesforce.com.

Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase Salesforce applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM." For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

¹https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Market-Rankings/comScore-Reports-July-2015-US-Smartphone-Subscriber-Market-Share
²https://truvenhealth.com/news-and-events/press-releases/detail/prid/113/study-finds-most-emergency-room-visits-made-by-privately-insured-patients-avoidable
³http://kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/aiming-for-fewer-hospital-u-turns-the-medicare-hospital-readmission-reduction-program/

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