SOURCE: Healthagen

April 16, 2009 12:09 ET

Healthagen Adds Cost-Estimator to Help Predict Cost of Visit for iTriage Users

iTriage Now Includes Retail Clinics Giving Consumers More Healthcare Facility Choices

ENGLEWOOD, CO--(Marketwire - April 16, 2009) - Healthagen™, a developer of healthcare information software, is adding a cost-estimator to iTriage™, the company's iPhone application that allows consumers to evaluate their symptoms, lists potential diagnoses and provides locations for treatment. Consumers will now have the option to get cost information based on the type of facility they visit.

"We believe that patient empowerment starts with transparency and access," said Wayne Guerra, M.D., M.B.A., Chief Medical Officer, Healthagen. "With the addition of a cost-estimator to iTriage, we are taking another step toward giving consumers tools that allow them to make better decisions about their treatment."

As part of this latest feature set enhancement, Healthagen is also adding nearly 900 national retail clinics and more than 1,000 additional urgent care and emergency department facilities to iTriage. Retail clinics, medical clinics located in pharmacies and supermarkets that are staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, provide treatment for minor illnesses.

"Consumers want lower cost alternatives in every aspect of their daily lives and retail clinics have become a new alternative for taking care of non-critical treatment needs," said Peter Hudson, M.D., CEO, Healthagen. "The goal of iTriage is to provide actionable healthcare information for consumers to participate in their own healthcare process. By including all types of acute care facilities, iTriage is continuing to allow that to happen."

With the addition of retail clinics as a category, iTriage now includes more than 67,000 healthcare treatment facilities across the country, including hospital emergency rooms, urgent care facilities and pharmacies. The directory of facilities is maintained and verified by Healthagen, and does not rely upon search engine data. This proprietary process provides more accurate healthcare facility and geo-locational information than conventional search engines for better point-of-care service.

The retail clinics also benefit from being included in iTriage, garnering an additional channel to connect directly to consumers, as well as a new way to differentiate and market their expertise.

iTriage is available in the Apple App Store in the healthcare and fitness category.

Resources:

iTriage Demo

http://www.healthagen.com/

Twitter

http://twitter.com/Healthagen

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/iTriage/62116178587?sid=5b48864cf4a923694246f56917562188&ref=search

iTriage Download

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=304696939&mt=8

About Healthagen

Healthagen is a developer of healthcare information software that empowers patients to make better decisions and gives healthcare treatment facilities improved access to additional patients. iTriage, the first application available from Healthagen, helps consumers evaluate their symptoms, lists potential diagnoses and provides access to appropriate locations for treatment. The proprietary healthcare search engine that is integrated into iTriage is far superior to any conventional search engine for point-of-care healthcare decision-making. Healthagen was founded and iTriage developed by emergency medicine physicians. The company is privately-held and headquartered in Englewood, CO.