Azalea Health has integrated telehealth functionality into its Electronic Health Record (EHR) system to allow for physician-patient engagement through live streaming video calls via a secure, HIPAA-compliant videoconferencing platform.

Azalea’s telehealth features allow direct media streaming, not only between physicians and their patients, but also between physicians and healthcare providers in other organizations. These features are accessible using a smartphone, increasing the accessibility and convenience of providing patient consultations and physician collaborations.

The capability can also be used as a tool by physicians seeking reimbursement for managing chronic care patients under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ new Chronic Care Management program (CCM). Effective January 1, 2015, physician practices can bill $42.60 per month for 20 minutes of non face-to-face chronic care activity.

“Azalea thrives on delivering innovative technologies to care providers, making quality healthcare more efficient and cost-effective, bettering patient outcomes, and overall improving practices’ bottom line,” says Baha Zeidan, CEO and cofounder of Azalea Health. “Our comprehensive health IT solution with telehealth functionality enables providers to better engage patients, as well as their peers, through traditional visits now enhanced by virtual physician visits.