NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — From the floor of the 2007
HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition, Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX), the leading
provider of clinical software, connectivity and information solutions that
physicians use to improve healthcare, announced today that Louisiana State
University Healthcare Network (LSUHN) has selected the TouchWorks(TM)
Electronic Health Record (EHR) to automate and connect its more than 500
physicians and transform healthcare in the region.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061005/ALLSCRIPTSLOGO-b )
In a broad-ranging response to the devastating impact of Hurricane
Katrina, which destroyed over 250,000 of LSUHN’s medical charts and displaced
thousands of its patients and providers, LSUHN will deploy the Electronic
Health Record in their own clinics across Southeast Louisiana. The physician
group also will lead the deployment of a free, web-based electronic
prescribing to all physicians in the state as the regional sponsor of the
National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative(SM) (NEPSI(SM)), a coalition
of technology and healthcare companies led by Allscripts and Dell.
“LSU Healthcare, in partnership with Allscripts, is helping to rebuild
Louisiana healthcare by providing our patients — and patients across the
state — with the safest, highest quality care available anywhere,” said Frank
Opelka, MD, Chief Executive Officer of LSUHN and Associate Dean for both
Clinical Affairs and Healthcare Quality and Safety at Louisiana State
University Medical School. “Having these tools in place when Katrina hit would
have put life-saving information at the fingertips of providers across the
country who found themselves treating tens of thousands of evacuees with no
idea what medications they were on or what their medical history was. With our
NEPSI electronic prescribing initiative, the technology is now free to every
physician in the state, so there is no longer any reason why a patient’s
medication history should not be available at all times, even after disaster
strikes.”
LSUHN is a multi-specialty physician practice comprised of faculty members
of the LSU Health Sciences Center and LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans.
As the physician staff of the primary “safety net” clinics in New Orleans,
Baton Rouge and Lafayette, LSUHN serves the neediest patients in Southeast
Louisiana, the region hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina.
The TouchWorks Electronic Health Record (www.allscripts.com/touchworks)
brings LSUHN’s physicians instant access to patient information when and where
they need it — in the clinic, at the hospital, or while on-call at home. To
further address global access to patient information, TouchWorks iHealth
provides LSUHN’s patients with a secure, online Personal Health Record and
patient-provider communications from Medem. LSUHN plans eventually to offer
TouchWorks to hundreds more physicians across Southeast Louisiana for enhanced
connectivity and quality of care.
“LSU Healthcare Network’s longstanding commitment to providing high-
quality and affordable care to the people of Southeast Louisiana is
demonstrated by their decision to take a leadership role in rebuilding the
state’s healthcare infrastructure,” said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer
of Allscripts. “Our Electronic Health Record will help LSUHN’s physicians
deliver more coordinated care across all delivery sites, with enhanced
decision support, improved quality and greater safety.”
Mr. Tullman and Dr. Opelka are the co-chairs of NEPSI, which is sponsored
by Dell, Aetna, Cisco Systems, Fujitsu, Microsoft, Sprint Nextel, SureScripts,
Wellpoint and Wolters Kluwer Health, as well as Horizon BCBS of New Jersey and
12 regional medical organizations across the U.S. Google provides the
specialized search capabilities of the product.
The story of LSUHN’s recovery from Katrina will be featured in a video
during the HIMSS keynote address today by Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive
Officer of Microsoft Corp. “We applaud the efforts of LSU Healthcare to lead
the rebuilding and transformation of patient care in New Orleans through the
use of information technology,” said Steve Aylward, General Manager of
Microsoft’s U.S. Healthcare and Life Sciences Group. “Allscripts has clearly
established itself as the national leader in providing innovative software and
process solutions to inform and connect physicians using Microsoft’s most
advanced technologies.”
James Coffin, M.D., General Manager of Healthcare for Dell — a technology
provider for LSUHN’s EHR program and the national sponsor of NEPSI —
commented, “The technology infrastructure at LSU Healthcare Network is a
fundamental part of New Orleans’ rebuilding effort. Dell is proud to be a part
of this important initiative to enhance the quality and continuity of care for
patients throughout the Gulf Coast region.”
Working side by side with Allscripts and LSUHN, implementation specialists
from Global Works Systems, Inc. — an Allscripts partner — brought LSUHN’s
first physicians live on TouchWorks in just one month. Thanks to the quick
deployment of the Electronic Health Record, LSUHN patients are already reaping
the benefits of enhanced quality of care and patient safety.
About LSU Healthcare Network
The LSU Healthcare Network is a team of over 500 physicians and 130
employees that has provided leading edge health services throughout Southeast
Louisiana since its founding in 1995. LSUHN’s mission is to provide patients
with the highest quality, comprehensive medical care through a compassionate,
professional and patient-focused healthcare team that is committed to academic
excellence. LSUHN faculty have distinguished themselves through research and
innovation in Ophthalmology with LASIK surgery, Neurosciences, Level I Trauma
Care, Oncology with the Neuroendocrine Tumor Program, and Pediatric
Excellence. LSUHN’s physicians were among the first to return to New Orleans
after Hurricane Katrina and they continue to play an integral role in
rebuilding the healthcare delivery system in the region.
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, electronic 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
-0- 02/26/2007
/CONTACT: Dan Michelson, Chief Marketing Officer, +1-312-506-1217,
dan.michelson@allscripts.com, or Todd Stein, Senior Manager/Public Relations,
+1-312-506-1216, todd.stein@allscripts.com, both of Allscripts; or LSU
Healthcare Network, Media Relations, +1-504-412-1860, info@lsuhn.com/
/Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061005/ALLSCRIPTSLOGO-b /
/Web site: https://www.allscripts.com
https://www.allscripts.com/touchworks /
(MDRX)
CO: Allscripts
ST: Louisiana
IN: STW HEA MTC CPR ITE HTS
SU: PDT
EA
-- NYM135 --
7768 02/26/2007 09:30 EST http://www.prnewswire.com