NU Online News Service, Aug. 31, 2004, 2:03 p.m. EDT

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Jacksonville, Fla., is working with a California company to encourage doctors and patients to communicate through the Web.[@@]

Florida Blue, a company that provides or administers health coverage for 6.5 million Florida residents, has agreed to reimburse patients who submit questions about non-urgent symptoms to doctors through a medical communication system run by RelayHealth Corp., Emeryville, Calif.

The RelayHealth system asks each patient a series of questions about any symptoms or other health care concerns, then gives the physician a report on the answers.

Patients also can use the RelayHealth system to get normal lab results, schedule doctor appointments and request referrals.

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