Doximity, the largest social network for American physicians, has announced a partnership with Epic, the most widely used electronic health record (EHR) system, to provide physicians with the ability to call patients directly and securely through Epic’s mobile EHR.

Communication between patient and provider is key to reducing hospital readmission rates and improving patient satisfaction. The pairing of Doximity Dialer and Epic allows for physicians to access records and communicate with patients from their mobile phone without revealing their phone number.

"This integration between Epic and Doximity helps save physicians' time, has the potential to ease patient communication, and, ultimately, help improve care coordination," said Marlene May Millen, MD, chief medical information officer, ambulatory care, at UC San Diego Health. "The one-touch dialing allows me the convenience to contact my patients—and access their health care information—directly from my iPhone, whenever and wherever."

When calling patients, physicians are able to hide their actual phone number and display the number of their office, clinic or hospital number. The change in caller ID makes patients more inclined to pick up the phone, which has been demonstrated in the over one million patient calls in the last three months of operation.

"Our goal is to connect physicians to make them more productive and successful. By working with an industry leader in electronic health records, we can help them save time while improving patient care," said Jeff Tangney, founder and CEO of Doximity. "Together, the combination of Haiku and Dialer can make doctor-patient communication easier, and more efficient."