CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb. 17, 2005–Allscripts Healthcare
Solutions (Nasdaq:MDRX), the leading provider of clinical software,
connectivity and information solutions for physicians, today
introduced Patients Interactive(TM), an innovative solution that
redefines the way physicians and their patients work together to
better manage diseases and improve medication adherence. Patients
Interactive will be integrated with TouchWorks(TM) iHealth, a new
patient-physician connectivity solution announced by Allscripts in a
press release earlier this week that will provide patients secure
online access to their own personal health record and to online
consultations with their physician. According to estimates, the U.S.
healthcare industry could save an estimated $100 billion a year if all
patients followed their physicians’ therapy plans and this product
provides a solution to begin to address the problem.
Patients Interactive provides a customized care plan that educates
a patient about their condition and delivers the tools necessary to
improve patient outcomes and therapy adherence. The service, which is
free to both physicians and patients, uses e-mail reminders and
interactive educational programs from the physician, as well as
offline components, such as letters, coupons, call center support and
point-of-care handouts to improve patients’ adherence to their therapy
plans.
According to Jupiter Research, physicians are best positioned to
influence patient behavior, but lack the tools necessary to help in
the adherence effort. Payers, health plans, employers and
pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars every year on
disease management and medication adherence efforts that bypass the
physicians rather than working with and through them. Patients
Interactive puts physicians at the center of the process and offers
them the ability to effectively monitor their patients’ adherence
levels.
“The problem with traditional payer-driven, paper-based disease
management and adherence programs is that they do not apply to all of
my patients, and enrolling patients is not part of a physician’s
workflow,” said C.T. Lin, MD, Senior Medical Director of Informatics
at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. “Patients
Interactive is the first solution I have seen that does both things
effectively.”
Utilizing Allscripts’ award-winning TouchWorks electronic health
record and TouchScript(TM) e-Prescribing solutions, physicians can
effortlessly enroll patients into the program at the point-of-care. As
the physician prescribes a medication for the patient’s condition,
Patients Interactive can be initiated with the patient’s permission to
initiate enrollment into the program. In full compliance with HIPAA
privacy standards, the patient is directed to a secure personalized
website, which contains information about their condition and therapy
including educational programs from Physicians Interactive(TM),
dietary recommendations, potential side effects, and clinical content
derived from Medem, the premier physician-patient communications
network that was founded and is governed by the nation’s leading
medical societies. Like a personalized health coach, Patients
Interactive will send reminders and alerts to patients when
prescription refills are due, as well as e-mails and letters from
their physician providing information on their condition and promoting
therapy adherence.
“Allscripts has always believed that the physician should be and
is at the center in directing patient behavior and motivating their
adherence to medical therapies,” said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive
Officer of Allscripts. “Patients Interactive is a breakthrough that
for the first time provides a point-of-care tool to close the loop
between writing a prescription and everything that happens thereafter.
This program will have a direct and very positive impact on improving
patient outcomes.”
In addition to improving disease management, Patients Interactive
provides a number of valuable offerings and integration capabilities
to reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of patient care.
Patients can receive coupons and prescription drug discounts, as well
as provide valuable feedback on clinical visit satisfaction. Patients
can conduct online consultations with their physician using Medem’s
Secure Messaging and Online Consultation(TM), as well as create and
maintain their personal health record.
“With little to no burden placed on the physician, Patients
Interactive is embedded into the physician-patient care plan and
becomes an extension of the physician-patient relationship, forming
the basis for ongoing communication that is customized to the
patient’s particular health condition,” said Mark Thierer, President
of the Physicians Interactive Group of Allscripts. “With the growing
demand for patient education surrounding consumer directed healthcare
and Medicare Part D, Patients Interactive is well positioned to meet a
significant industry need.”
About Allscripts Healthcare Solutions
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (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 clinical
software applications include electronic health record (EHR),
e-prescribing and document imaging 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. 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 2003
Annual Report on Form 10-K, available through the Web site maintained
by the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
CONTACT: Allscripts Healthcare Solutions
Dan Michelson, 312-506-1317
dan.michelson@allscripts.com
SOURCE: Allscripts Healthcare Solutions