PITTSBURGH and PLANO, Texas, Feb. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- UPMC, a leading, integrated healthcare provider and insurer, is partnering with Vivify Health as a customer of and investor in its mobile population health solutions to remotely care for patients.

Vivify Health's technology is used by the nation's largest health organizations, representing more than 500 hospitals and payers, to efficiently manage, monitor and engage patient populations of all sizes and risk levels. Founded in 2009, Vivify was the first company to offer a Cloud-based solution for mobile population health and chronic care management using any consumer mobile device.

"After an extensive evaluation of a number of companies, Vivify Health clearly stood out to us as the one best aligned to deliver patient-centered remote care across UPMC's integrated payer/provider system," said Tal Heppenstall, President of UPMC Enterprises, the commercialization arm of UPMC which led the Vivify investment.  "As we deliver care under an increasingly risk-based reimbursement model, we are excited to become a customer, development partner and investor in Vivify's scalable population health management technology. Backing this kind of innovation to solve critical healthcare problems is at the heart of our mission at UPMC Enterprises."

Uniquely positioned for true population health management

Vivify Health solutions enable insurance and provider organizations to conduct virtual care visits, communicate seamlessly with patients and members, and remotely monitor any patient population, such as those with chronic illnesses. The solutions are tailored to patients of all levels of technology expertise, from an "instant-on" health kit for consumers with limited or no technology experience, to a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) solution for those who prefer to use their own devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

"Vivify's remote monitoring and communication technology is essential to making patients true partners in their care and providing the right services when and where they need them, increasingly at home," said Andrew Watson, MD, UPMC's Medical Director of Telemedicine and Vice President of UPMC International. "As an integrated healthcare delivery and financing system, we are focused on keeping patients well and out of the hospital, and that can happen only with affordable, easy-to-use technology like Vivify's."

Such flexibility to conform to the consumer's unique needs and comfort level has contributed to outcomes that Vivify reports with other customers, such as reducing readmissions by 65 percent, improving return on investment by 144 percent and achieving patient compliance and satisfaction rates well over 95 percent.

UPMC joins growing roster of customer investors

Vivify Health's other investors include several of the nation's largest health systems and health plans, including over 700 hospitals represented by Heritage Group and Ascension Ventures, followed by LabCorp and Envision Health.

As day-to-day users, customer-investors like UPMC take an active role in the continued development of the Vivify Health platform and the company's strategic direction. To that end, Brenton Burns, Executive Vice President of UPMC Enterprises, will join the Vivify Health board of directors. Enterprises' experienced product development team in Pittsburgh will also work with Vivify to enhance its solutions and to deploy them effectively across UPMC's vast system which covers virtually every aspect of care, including not only hospitals and physician offices but rehabilitation and senior living facilities.

"We are honored to partner with UPMC, one of the nation's most prestigious health systems, to advance its mission to provide outstanding patient care and shape tomorrow's healthcare with innovative population health technology," said Eric Rock, Vivify Health CEO. "We look forward to helping UPMC achieve unprecedented outcomes for its patients as part of its commitment to patient-centered, affordable care."

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About UPMC

A world-renowned health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. It provides more than $888 million a year in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region's most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates 60,000 employees, more than 20 hospitals, more than 500 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, a 2.9-million-member health insurance division, and international and commercial operations. Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC ranks No. 13 in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Annual Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals. For more information, go to UPMC.com.

About Vivify Health

Vivify Health is in the vanguard of extending healthcare beyond the four walls of the provider facility. Founded in 2009, Vivify Health was the first to deliver complete remote healthcare to unlimited patient populations via the cloud and the consumer's mobile device of choice. Over 500 of the country's leading hospitals and payer organizations use the Vivify digital health solutions for virtual care visits, remote patient monitoring, patient education and adherence and more for population health and chronic care management programs with proven outcomes.  Learn more at www.vivifyhealth.com.

Media Contact:

Amendola Communications for Vivify Health
Joy DiNaro, 847.809.0406 or JDinaro@ACMarketingPR.com

For UPMC

Wendy Zellner, 412 586 9777 or ZellnerWL@UPMC.edu

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SOURCE Vivify Health