The Cleveland Clinic said in an announcement on Monday that a new collaboration with Amazone One Medical, which offers cross online and in-person primary care, aims to increase access to high-quality organized care in Northeast Ohio. WHY IT MATTERSPatient exposure to essential health services is behind the engagement, according to Dr. Tom Mihaljevic, Cleveland Clinic’s chief executive officer and president, with the new practices to provide equal and next-day appointments, an site lab and digital care support for members. But it’s also about the individual knowledge, Cleveland Clinic said, describing carefully designed offices, sufficient time between patients and 24/7/365 online treatment services through a portable app. Additionally, that app provides access to vaccine and health records, prescription renewals, and online assessments for common health issues. For Amazon One, the engagement offers a smooth progression of treatment that is offer” the highest levels of health, care and value”, Trent Green, the company’s CEO said in a statement. The first one is scheduled to open in 2017, but Amazon One and Cleveland Clinic both said they will look into adding more locations over the coming years. Working with Cleveland Clinic advances our goal of enhancing the healthcare experience by bringing our human-centered, technology-driven approach to people and employers in the greater Cleveland area, Green said. THE LARGER TRENDWhile Amazon One Medical collaborates with more than 10,000 employers nationwide to provide benefits to their employees and dependents, its parent company, Amazon, has experience working with health systems to transform care delivery and increase its speed. Last year, David Higginson, executive vice president and chief innovation officer at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, told Healthcare IT News how the provider needed a hands-free, telehealth-capable device in 750 exam rooms and partnered with the Alexa Smart Properties program to develop it. One feature enables doctors to use a Zoom integration to incorporate an electronic behavioral health screening for an immediate evaluation. The physician uses the Alexa Show in the clinic room to warmly welcome the patient after their initial visit, and the therapist conducts an evaluation and education session with the patient before they leave, according to Higginson. When they would normally be waiting for weeks and could be at risk, he said,” This just-in-time, virtual care has provided countless children with access to a therapist.” Cleveland Clinic, a brand-new innovator, also announced in July that it had partnered with Masimo, a software developer, to improve patient care by enabling hospital-based remote patient monitoring and virtual critical care. Through the initiative, the health system will jointly develop artificial intelligence-based decision-support tools for earlier detection of adverse events in patients of varying acuities. This collaboration demonstrates a shared commitment from both organizations to meet the needs of our patients and to enhance the care we provide to our communities, according to Mihaljevic in a statement. Healthcare IT News ‘ senior editor is Andrea Fox. Email: afox@himss .org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.