Sierra Health Services & Clark County Medical Society to Fund Electronic Prescribing For All Physicians in Nevada
LAS VEGAS & CHICAGO, Oct 05, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Sierra Health Services (NYSE:SIE), the State of Nevada’s largest
health plan is collaborating with the Clark County Medical Society in
a major initiative to provide funding for electronic prescribing for
all physicians practicing in the State of Nevada. Allscripts,
(Nasdaq:MDRX), the leading provider of clinical software, connectivity
and information solutions that physicians use to improve healthcare,
has been selected to provide the electronic prescribing solution for
this statewide program.
This unprecedented initiative goes hand-in-hand with today’s
announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary, Michael Leavitt, who highlighted the importance of
e-prescribing during a national press conference in Washington, D.C.
Sierra is collaborating with Nevada’s largest medical society, the
Clark County Medical Society, to promote the use of electronic
prescribing to improve quality, reduce potential medical errors and
improve patient satisfaction and convenience. Both organizations
believe that by working together, they can rapidly drive physician
adoption of electronic prescribing across the State.
Southwest Medical Associates (SMA), a unit of Sierra Health
Services, has successfully deployed Allscripts Electronic Health
Record to its nearly 250 medical providers. During the course of the
last year, SMA’s physicians wrote over one million electronic
prescriptions for their patients, making them one of the country’s
leading electronic prescribing practices. Based on the success of this
initiative at SMA, Sierra believed there was an opportunity to
fundamentally improve how patient care was delivered throughout the
state.
“As both an insurer and a provider of healthcare, Sierra is
uniquely positioned to implement this emerging technology. Our
adoption of e-prescribing, as well as electronic health records, has
now made our clinics and treatment facilities virtually paperless,”
said Anthony Marlon, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Sierra. “Once we began to see a return on our initial investment and
an improvement in patient satisfaction and the quality of care
delivered at SMA, we knew we had to find a way to make this technology
available to all physicians in the State of Nevada. I am very pleased
that through this collaborative effort, we will now be able to do so.”
The Company determined that e-prescribing was the perfect starting
point for this change, as Sierra’s own experience showed a reduction
in medical prescription errors and a significant improvement in
utilization of generic prescription drugs.
Under the initiative, Allscripts provided Sierra Health Services
with a reduced cost for e-prescribing. Physician members of the Clark
County Medical Society, the state’s largest medical society, will be
eligible for a 10-year software license at no charge, and it will fund
up to two years of monthly maintenance services. All other physicians
in the State are eligible to receive the software at no cost, but will
be responsible for a minimal monthly fee. All adopting physicians will
provide their own hardware to host the web-based Allscripts solution.
“As Nevada’s largest medical society, the Clark County Medical
Society believes this was an excellent benefit for our members and
allowed us the opportunity to collaborate with Allscripts,” said Dr.
Ronald Kline, President of the Clark County Medical Society. “Working
together, we can ensure that physicians across the Society and the
State of Nevada have the right solution in place to help improve the
quality and efficiency of healthcare to the residents and visitors of
Nevada.”
“This initiative will help transform how patient care is provided
in the State of Nevada. We commend both Sierra Health Services and the
Clark County Medical Society on their vision and leadership,” said
Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts. “Now, every
patient in Nevada has the opportunity today, to experience the
healthcare system of the future. We also believe that electronic
prescribing is a great on-ramp to the electronic healthcare highway we
provide through our full electronic health record.”
Information on this e-prescribing initiative will be available in
the next 30 days from Sierra Health Services, the Clark County Medical
Society and Allscripts.
About Sierra Health Services
Sierra Health Services Inc., based in Las Vegas, is a diversified
health care services company that operates health maintenance
organizations, indemnity insurers, preferred provider organizations
and multi-specialty medical groups. Sierra’s subsidiaries serve more
than 580,000 people through health benefit plans for employers,
government programs and individuals. For more information, visit the
company’s Web site at www.sierrahealth.com.
About Clark County Medical Society
Clark County Medical Society is the largest medical society in the
State of Nevada. The Society has been serving physicians since 1955 to
ensure the rights of physicians are adequately represented. The
Society is made up of more than 900 physicians and is based in Las
Vegas, Nevada.
About Allscripts
Allscripts is the leading provider of clinical software,
connectivity and information solutions that physicians use to improve
healthcare. The Company provides unique solutions that inform,
connect, and transform healthcare. The Clinical Solutions Group’s
award-winning clinical software applications include Electronic Health
Record, e-prescribing and document imaging solutions. Allscripts’
Physicians Interactive Group provides clinical product education and
connectivity solutions for physicians and patients. The Company’s
Medication Services Group provides medication fulfillment services. 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 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
Allscripts Dan Michelson, 312-506-1217 dan.michelson@allscripts.com or Sierra Health Services, Inc. Peter O'Neill, 702-242-7156 poneill@sierrahealth.com