Healthagen recently announced that it had extended the functionalities of its iPhone app iTriage to other smartphone platforms by optimizing its website for mobile browsers. While the company did not launch apps for each of these platforms, it noted BlackBerry, Android, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Palm, T-Mobile, Sony [Ericsson] and Motorola as some of the smartphone makers with devices that could now access its content online at www.iTriageHealth.com. The company's original iPhone app is also now free to download -- it used cost $0.99.
Just like the iPhone app before it, the iTriage site aims to help users evaluate their symptoms, learn about the possible causes, find appropriate locations for treatment, and get cost information based on the type of facility they visit. Healthagen said its database now includes listings for some 500,000 physicians across the U.S.
Shortly after announcing its cross-platform smartphone support, Healthagen announced that Colorado-based Centura Health had become its first premier listing for its healthcare facilities database.
Healthagen told mobihealthnews that these premier listings do not give those hospitals priority in results when users conduct searches based on symptoms and initial diagnoses. The company said these listings allow hospitals to market their areas of specialty more effectively in the mobile form factor.
A company spokesman described the deal with Centura Health as representative of iTriage's "true monetization" strategy -- signing deals with hospitals to allow them to market themselves on the iPhone (and now other smartphones). That is, as opposed to selling mobile applications like the iPhone app for $0.99 a pop.
Read on for the press release announcing the Centura Health deal.
Healthagen Launches Smart Phone Version of iTriage; Expands to Provide More Consumers With Actionable Healthcare Information
LAKEWOOD, CO--(Marketwire - July 6, 2009) - Healthagen, a developer of healthcare information software, today announced its new partnership with Centura Health, offering a premier listing service for its healthcare facilities in Colorado available on all of its smart phone iTriage applications, including iTriage for the iPhone.
With the introduction of this premier level of service, Centura Health, Colorado's largest healthcare provider, is the first hospital system taking advantage of the interactive technology which allows consumers to evaluate their symptoms, learn about the possible causes, find appropriate locations for treatment, as well as get cost information based on the type of facility they visit.
"We have a history of seeking out and using the latest technology to provide valuable resources to people within the communities we serve," said Gary Campbell, president and chief executive officer, Centura Health. "The iTriage application is a state-of-the-art application that will benefit our communities by allowing people to make more informed medical decisions and connect to needed medical resources when it matters most."
Beyond providing a valuable resource to the healthcare consumer, iTriage opens up a new medium for healthcare providers to interface with potential patients and customers at the critical point of illness or injury. Through the iTriage application, Centura Health will have a direct link to consumers and are provided a new avenue with which to differentiate from local competitors.
"With applications for all smart phones, including the iPhone, iTriage begins where other medical content resources end by providing consumers with actionable healthcare information, including basic information and mapping on facilities where they can receive treatment," said Peter Hudson, M.D., CEO, Healthagen. "We are taking this a step further with the premier listing service. This service provides more extensive, interactive information for consumers, as well as offering healthcare facilities a new channel to reach customers."
With more than more than 67,000 healthcare treatment facilities across the country, including hospital emergency rooms, urgent care facilities and pharmacies, iTriage does not rely upon search engine data to provide users with all types of acute care facility options. Healthagen's proprietary process provides more accurate healthcare facility and geo-locational information than conventional search engines to offer better point-of-care service for consumers as well as more options for healthcare facilities.
iTriage for the iPhone is currently available in the Apple App Store and at www.iTriageHealth.com from all other smart phone internet browsers.
