TouchWorks is the First Electronic Health Record to Integrate with the iHealthRecord
WASHINGTON, May 10, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) — One day after the national launch of the iHealthRecord at the
National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Allscripts Healthcare
Solutions (Nasdaq: MDRX), the leading provider of clinical software,
connectivity and information solutions that physicians use to improve
healthcare announced today it is the first Electronic Health Record
(EHR) to integrate with the Interactive Health Record (iHealthRecord).
This partnership provides unprecedented connectivity between
physicians and patients.
The iHealthRecord is a multi-year effort led by Medem, the
nation’s premier physician-patient communication network, founded by
leading U.S. medical societies.
“This is a very important practical interim step in the right
direction,” said Newt Gingrich, founder of The Center for Health
Transformation. “What you have now with the iHealthRecord is in fact a
partnership with physicians, at a practical level, to begin developing
the habit of going to the Internet to check your own health status, to
monitor your own health conditions, to have a dialogue with your
physicians.”
The iHealthRecord is supported by more than 45 prestigious medical
societies, including the American Medical Association. Accessible via
the Internet, the iHealthRecord allows patients to securely connect to
their physicians and receive educational messages and reminders that
pertain to the individual patient’s medications and health conditions.
“Thousands of physicians across America are adopting an Electronic
Health Record, and the iHealthRecord opens up the door to enhanced
patient-physician communication,” said C.R. Burke, President and Chief
Executive Officer of St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare in Fullerton,
California. “After implementing the EHR from Allscripts, SJHH
physicians have been able to have instant access to their patients’
medical records and connectivity to them. Now, every American will be
able to have their medical information at their fingertips, wherever
they may be.”
Allscripts will integrate their award-winning TouchWorks(TM)
Electronic Health Record with the iHealthRecord. This integration
provides a standards-based personal health record and automated
patient education programs that help patients follow their care plans
and medication regimens. TouchWorks also allows patients to share
secure online consultations with their physicians.
“The significance of advancing the national healthcare IT agenda
by moving the personal health record out of the paper era, into the
digital age, and under the control of the patient, cannot be
overstated,” said Edward Fotsch, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of
Medem. “Integrating a leading EHR, like TouchWorks, will bring
healthcare IT to the next level, by enhancing access to information.”
Allscripts will now provide an advanced platform for integrated
patient-physician connectivity based on the time-tested Medem platform
of services, which provides HIPAA-compliant secure email, Online
Consultation software, and trusted, award-winning clinical content
from America’s leading medical societies.
“The combination of the TouchWorks Electronic Health Record and
the iHealthRecord personal health record is of vital importance,” said
Gloria Austin, Chief Executive Officer at Brown and Toland Medical
Group in San Francisco, California. “Each of these applications is
critical, but the combination enables both providers and patients to
have what they demand, which is real-time access to clinical
information.”
The iHealthRecord is available to anyone in the U.S. As well as
from 100,000 physician practice web sites and a number of leading
medical groups that will offer the enhanced integration between the
TouchWorks EHR from Allscripts and the iHealthRecord. The following
physicians groups will be the first healthcare organizations to
deliver a secure and interoperable personal health record to their
local communities:
— Advocate Medical Group in Park Ridge, Illinois
— Affinity Health Group in Tifton, Georgia
— Brown & Toland Medical Group in San Francisco, California
— Holston Medical Group in Bristol, Tennessee
— Joliet Medical Group in Joliet, Illinois
— Northeast Georgia Diagnostic Clinic in Gainesville, Georgia
— St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare in Fullerton, California
The iHealthRecord is available at no cost to patients. Anyone who
does not have access through their physician can create an
iHealthRecord at www.ihealthrecord.org. According to research, 70% of
patients surveyed say they want access to their medical records and
they want to maintain it online.
“On May 9th, healthcare in America changed for the better because,
for the first time, we provided every American with the opportunity to
connect to the evolving electric healthcare system,” said Glen
Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts. “The iHealthRecord
will better inform patients about critical information, directly
involve patients in their own care, connect patients and physicians
and ultimately, transform healthcare. With the integration TouchWorks
iHealth provides, both patients and physicians can collaborate on
care, leading to higher quality and more cost-effective healthcare.”
About Medem
Medem is the premier physician-patient communications network on
the Internet, providing secure communications between physicians and
their patients. Based in San Francisco, Medem was founded by a group
of the nation’s leading medical societies, including the American
Medical Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American
College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. For more information about
Medem or the iHealthRecord, please visit www.medem.com or
www.ihealthrecord.org.
About Allscripts
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 2004
Annual Report on Form 10-K, available through the Web site maintained
by the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
SOURCE: Allscripts Healthcare Solutions
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Dan Michelson, 312-506-1217 dan.michelson@allscripts.com or Medem Jason Best, 415-644-3909 jason.best@medem.com