CHICAGO, May 22, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) — From the floor of the 2006 TEPR (Towards the Electronic
Patient Record) Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, Allscripts
(Nasdaq:MDRX), the leading provider of clinical software, connectivity
and information solutions that physicians use to improve healthcare,
is the first Electronic Health Record vendor in the nation to meet
requirements for participation in the federal government’s initiative
to improve care outcomes.
HealthMatics(R) EHR from Allscripts subsidiary A4 Health Systems
is the first and currently only Electronic Health Record to meet the
requirements for data collection and reporting of the Doctors’ Office
Quality-Information Technology (DOQ-IT) program for healthcare quality
improvement. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an
agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services, established
the program to encourage physicians to adopt Electronic Health Records
for collecting, utilizing, and reporting health performance measures.
Electronic reporting, in turn, is a prerequisite for
“pay-for-performance,” Medicare’s proposal to pay bonuses to
physicians who attain quality benchmarks in treating patients with
chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
Allscripts recently was recognized as the first of more than 80
vendors participating in the program to meet all 35 DOQ-IT reporting
requirements.
Vendors who support the Medicare quality-improvement program are
asked to sign a letter of intent pledging to meet the DOQ-IT quality
standards. Participation in the initiative is strictly voluntary, but
it ensures that systems and products can provide physicians with tools
key to improving outcomes for patients with chronic conditions.
“Allscripts wholeheartedly supports the DOQ-IT program’s efforts
to improve healthcare outcomes for patients with chronic diseases by
rewarding physicians who meet quality benchmarks,” said Allscripts
Chief Executive Officer Glen Tullman. “By demonstrating its ability to
report on all ambulatory quality measures and electronically output
the information to CMS, our HealthMatics Electronic Health Record has
ensured that physicians have the tools they need to participate in pay
for performance.”
The Allscripts Electronic Health Record automates many common
clinical activities such as prescribing medications, ordering lab
tests, documenting patient visits and making referrals electronically.
HealthMatics improves the quality and efficiency of patient care by
providing physicians with up-to-date clinical information and the
latest decision-making guidelines when and where they need it – at the
point of care.
About Allscripts
Allscripts is the leading provider of clinical software,
connectivity and information solutions that physicians use to improve
healthcare. The Company’s business groups provide unique solutions
that inform, connect and transform healthcare. The Clinical Solutions
Group’s award-winning software applications include electronic health
record, practice management, e-prescribing, document imaging,
emergency department and care management solutions. Additionally,
Allscripts provides clinical product education and connectivity
solutions for physicians and patients through its Physicians
Interactive(TM) Group and medication fulfillment services through its
Medication Services Group. To learn more, visit Allscripts on the Web
at www.allscripts.com.
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements about
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions that involve risks and uncertainties.
These statements are developed by combining currently available
information with Allscripts beliefs and assumptions. Forward-looking
statements do not guarantee future performance. Because Allscripts
cannot predict all of the risks and uncertainties that may affect it,
or control the ones it does predict, Allscripts’ actual results may be
materially different from the results expressed in its forward-looking
statements. For a more complete discussion of the risks, uncertainties
and assumptions that may affect Allscripts, see the Company’s 2005
Annual Report on Form 10-K, available through the Web site maintained
by the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
SOURCE: Allscripts
Allscripts Dan Michelson, 312-506-1217 dan.michelson@allscripts.com