Vital Launches Lab Results to Give Patients Fast and Easy-to-Understand Health Information in Hospitals


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“This type of accessibility will result in less confusion, help keep people at the hospital through long wait times because they know what’s happening, and give patients the comfort and confidence that they are receiving the proper care that they need.” – Aaron Patzer, CEO and co-founder of Vital

Vital, the leading AI-driven digital health company, today announces the launch of its Lab Results tool to help health systems educate patients and expedite the sharing of results at the point of care. The tool delivers simple and concise explanations directly to the patient – what labs and imaging orders were placed, the status of each, and education around the results. Results, which are traditionally written in a way that requires a medical degree to understand, are presented to patients in a consumer-friendly way with graphics and explanations. Erythrocyte is not only translated to Red Blood Cell (RBC), but Vital Labs also gives brief, medium-length and medical-grade explanations of what red blood count indicates, why doctors look at the results, and more.

The recent expansion of the 21st Century Cures Act mandates that patients have access to their health information “without delay” – including their lab results. To keep patients informed and to comply with the new rule, health systems need better tools.

Many send lab results into web-based patient portals without providing education and context around the result, leaving the patient with questions and anxiety. In the emergency department setting, the speed and simplicity of test results is especially important. Patients want to know their results quickly and understand what they mean.

“At Vital, we have always placed ourselves in the shoes of our patient-users, aiming to give them the kind of transparency and ease they’ve grown accustomed to as consumers,” said Aaron Patzer, CEO and co-founder of Vital. “A day in the ED is already stressful, what would I want to know to ease anxiety? What type of information do I need? And what can I expect to happen next? That’s ultimately what drove our decision to offer the new lab results tool. This type of accessibility will result in less confusion, help keep people at the hospital through long wait times because they know what’s happening, and give patients the comfort and confidence that they are receiving the proper care that they need.”

How Vital Lab Results Works

Vital gives health systems the ability to deliver results from the most common subset of lab and imaging orders. This is done in a consumer-friendly, educational way – all accessible via the patient’s phone. Along with the result, Vital Labs answers immediate questions, like:

Why was this test ordered?

What do the results mean?

How should these results be treated or addressed?

“Our goal is to be a digital helping hand – guiding patients through their stay and giving them what they need at the right place and the right time,” said Dr. Justin Schrager, Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of Vital. “Whether that is a key lab result, delivered with education and simple explanations, or an AI-calculated wait time delivered just as they have taken their seat in the waiting room, we pride ourselves on giving patients the information and context they need to more confidently navigate their illness and recovery.”

About Vital

Vital is a modern digital health company that transforms the patient and staff experience during an emergency department visit and inpatient stay. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP), Vital’s solutions make it easier to communicate and engage patients, improve patient satisfaction, elevate staff efficiency, and keep patients in-network. Founded by Mint.com creator Aaron Patzer (@apatzer), and Emory Emergency Physician Dr. Justin Schrager, Vital is HIPAA-compliant, and a cloud-based software that sits on top of any existing electronic health record system (EHR): Epic, Cerner, Meditech, and more.

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