[January 14, 2015]

PokitDok Introduces Centralized Scheduling System for Group Practices, Telehealth and Hospital Networks

Today at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, PokitDok announced the immediate availability of the PokitDok Enterprise Scheduler. The patent-pending calendaring system enables group practices, telehealth providers and hospital networks to centralize scheduling and build programs that make open appointment times available on intranets, websites and mobile apps. In an industry heavily reliant on switchboard operators, expensive call centers and paper-based systems, the PokitDok Enterprise Scheduler drives down costs, brings unprecedented efficiency and improves the consumer experience.

While the $2.9B health industry has made tremendous gains in the last decade employing Electronic Health Records (EHR), most group practices lack an electronic calendaring program that captures availability of every physician in the network. PokitDok puts it all under one roof through a patent-pending Application Programming Interface (API) for developers. The PokitDok Enterprise Scheduler performs schedule aggregation to third party scheduling applications, including commercial off-the-shelf practice management software and supports practices with their own home-grown solution.

"This is an extraordinary technical achievement that honors the healthcare sector's unique infrastructure along with its HIPAA and privacy requirements," said Eric Hixon, an inventor of WebCal, the first Web enabled Calendar, acquired by Yahoo! in 1998. "When we created WebCal, the challenge was to get people to move from paper to online. Now that we're there, PokitDok introduces a whole new multi-faceted and dynamic capability that is at the heart of any healthcare operation: booking appointments."

Conventional software is not designed to support the telehealth sector, which is expected to grow to a $1.9Bindustry by 2018. Now, PokitDok can help virtual providers save unnecessary costs on expensive staff to coordinate appointment requests. The PokitDok Enterprise Scheduler requires no software installation, re-training of front desk staff or significant IT overhead to support it.

When fully integrated, consumers can book doctor visits for themselves or a dependent such as a child, spouse or aging parent, regardless of the type of software the provider uses. Location, timing and physician preferences can be set and rescheduling can be done online using a desktop or mobile device. The solution would enable email and text reminders to be pushed to iPhone (News - Alert) and Android phones, completing the booking cycle.

"We're ushering in a new level of interoperability previously unheard of amongst EMR and practice management systems," said Ted Tanner, co-founder & CTO, PokitDok. "It allows the developers of third party applications access to a vast scheduling and EMR footprint without having to do all of the typical heavy lifting and without requiring detailed individual knowledge of those systems."

The API for the PokitDok Enterprise Scheduler uses JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) for requests and responses. All API traffic is encrypted over HTTPS and authentication is handled with OAuth2, the open standard for authentication and authorization. Using this method puts providers and patients in full control of which applications can create and book appointments on their behalf. The API is designed according to Representational State Transfer (REST) principles and unlike on-site hardware installations, it resides in the cloud and does not require physical space to support or maintain. After providing some configuration detail for the provider's targeted scheduling system(s), PokitDok's professional services team can help developers configure the integration. Then, available appointment slots will be automatically synchronized with the PokitDok Enterprise Scheduler within prescribed periods and made available to consumers for self-service booking. PokitDok already supports the top scheduling systems and can add additional scheduling systems as needed. Payers, health systems and digital health companies interested in implementing PokitDok Enterprise Scheduler can send requests to [email protected] or learn more at platform.pokitdok.com.

About PokitDok

PokitDok is a HIPAA-compliant cloud-based platform for healthcare purchases, connecting consumers directly with practitioners in a transparent, e-commerce experience. PokitDok provides Enterprise access to market-driven provider, treatment, pricing and scheduling information through Application Programming Interfaces (API), plus X12 claims, authorization, eligibility and referrals solutions. Health systems, technology providers and start-ups seeking to reduce expenses and streamline health-related business processes can sign up at platform.pokitdok.com to request an API key. PokitDok is based in San Mateo, CA (News - Alert) and Charleston, SC and is backed by New Atlantic Ventures, Rogers Venture Partners, and Subtraction Capital.

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