One of the biggest developers of electronic health records systems and a major telehealth services provider are integrating their respective technology platforms to give doctors access to telehealth services and electronic health records through a single patient portal.

American Well will integrate its telehealth services into Cerner Corp.s HealtheLife portal, which provides physicians with access to a patients health records, provider messaging and broad interaction with clinicians.

Patients will be able to initiate a telehealth visit by selecting that option within a Cerner portal, while physicians can maintain continuity when electronically accessing and updating patient health records through the Cerner portal.

The integrated services, which both companies will offer to their existing and future customers, will eliminate the time and cost associated with selecting, validating and installing a telehealth application separately from a providers electronic health records platform, the companies say.

Patients will benefit from having a robust experience through the patient portal with easy access to their results, provider messaging, updated demographics, family history and video visits, says Cerner vice president of DeviceWorks John Gresham.

Cerner, which will initially focus its sales efforts in the U.S., plans to offer the integrated platform to more than 5,700 hospitals and 25,000 client facilities worldwide. The company is currently gathering feedback from clients that have deployed its platform and American Wells platform to assist in design of the product, Gresham says.

Our clients can expect to see a series of integrations that enhance the experience of both patients and providers engaging in a video visit, Gresham says. Providers will be able to experience a video visit in a familiar workflow within the electronic health record.

American Well will sell the platform as a premium offering separate from its standard telehealth platform, says American Well senior vice president, corporate and business development Jeffrey Kosowsky.

Neither Cerner nor American Well would reveal the cost of the integrated platform.

This partnership is a way to integrate telemedicine deeper into healthcare by providing a better user experience for patients and physicians, Kosowsky says.