Agreement with Hospital Group Highlights Impact of Stark Regulatory Changes on
Donations of Technology to Physicians
CHICAGO and FORT COLLINS, Colo., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
— Allscripts, the leading provider of clinical software and information
solutions that physicians use to improve healthcare, announced today that
Poudre Valley Health System (PVHS) has selected Allscripts as their Electronic
Health Record (EHR) and Practice Management (PM) provider to automate and
connect clinical and administrative processes for its medical staff of
independent physicians. Initially, PVHS has purchased 200 licenses for the
combined Allscripts solution.
Poudre Valley Health System is a regional, not-for-profit healthcare
network serving the people of Northern Colorado, southern Wyoming, and western
Nebraska. The healthcare system includes two full-service hospitals with 417
licensed beds, and a medical staff of more than 500 physicians. PVHS has
received numerous awards for its dedication to using technology to enhance the
safety and quality of patient care. The healthcare system is among only 15
organizations to be recognized four years in a row as one of the nation’s 100
“most wired” healthcare organizations by Hospitals & Health Networks, which is
published by the American Hospital Association.
“Information technology has helped us remain at the forefront of patient
care, and this agreement with Allscripts delivers a significant boost to that
effort,” said Rulon Stacey, President and Chief Executive Officer of PVHS,
which is based in Ft. Collins, 60 miles north of Denver. “We believe the
electronic health record will help us improve patient care and safety, contain
costs, and streamline work processes, while creating a hospital-based
community model allowing physicians across the Northern Rocky Mountain region
to offer truly integrated patient care.”
PVHS will offer the combined EHR-PM system from Allscripts to regional
primary care physicians who have a relationship with the hospital. Practices
may choose to implement either the full, combined solution or the Electronic
Health Record alone. In offering the technology to non-employed physicians,
PVHS is taking advantage of recent changes to federal regulations that are
making it easier for hospitals to provide funding to connect physicians and
hospitals. The federal Stark regulation, which limits the scope of hospital-
physician relationships, has been modified to enable hospitals to assist non-
employed physicians in adopting healthcare information technologies, including
electronic health records, to enhance patient safety and quality of care.
The Allscripts Electronic Health Record provides PVHS physicians with
instant access to patient information when and where they need it – at the
hospital, in their offices, or while on-call at home. The web-based solution
automates everyday clinical tasks such as prescribing and refilling
medications, ordering and reviewing tests, and documenting patient care. Easy
to use and customize, the Electronic Health Record features robust clinical
tools that support safe medical practices, including health maintenance
alerts, clinical decision support, and automated drug safety checking.
The Practice Management functionality of Allscripts combines sophisticated
scheduling and Revenue Cycle Management tools to help physician practices
become more productive while improving service to patients. Important features
include advanced billing and reconciliation, referral and eligibility
indicators, and automated patient appointment reminders.
“Hospitals today need an end-to-end community care model that assures
continuity of care for patients whether they are in the hospital or a
physician’s office outside the hospital,” said Allscripts Chief Executive
Officer Glen Tullman. “Thanks to the recent changes in federal regulations,
we’re proud to be able to help Poudre Valley Health System deliver on the
community model by providing immediate access to patient information, anytime
and anywhere.”
Allscripts will connect its solutions with PVHS’s existing inpatient
information system from Meditech, enabling staff physicians and authorized
caregivers at any PVHS facility to access each patient’s medication history,
problems list, allergies, notes from previous visits, and other key clinical
information.
Russ Branzell, Chief Information Officer for PVHS, said the healthcare
system selected Allscripts after an extensive search largely because its staff
physicians strongly recommended the solution.
“It’s fairly universal among our physicians that Allscripts is the primary
care electronic health record of choice,” said Branzell. “I also think
Allscripts is an ideal partner for hospitals because of the experience it
brings when it comes to connecting with hospital-based information systems,
and the strong relationships Allscripts has with existing hospital vendors.
And from an industry benchmarking perspective, Allscripts was named the number
one ambulatory electronic health record by KLAS, and that carries a lot of
weight.”
The healthcare system will offer to host Allscripts for primary care
physician practices, freeing physicians from the need to purchase new hardware
and to provide IT support services. Through this Medical Services
Organization (MSO) model, PVHS also hopes to expand the offering to include
specialty physicians on its staff, and other non-affiliated physicians,
Branzell said.
About Poudre Valley Health System
Poudre Valley Health System (PVHS) provides a regional network of
healthcare services for the people of Northern Colorado, southern Wyoming, and
western Nebraska. PVHS has been named one of the 500 most innovative
companies in America by InformationWeek magazine four years in a row. For the
last three years, the network has received a Distinguished Hospital Award for
Patient Safety from HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent healthcare
ratings company. For more information on PVHS, visit http://www.pvhs.org.
About Allscripts
Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) is the leading provider of clinical software,
connectivity and information solutions that physicians use to improve
healthcare. The Company’s business units provide unique solutions that inform,
connect and transform healthcare. Allscripts award-winning software
applications include Electronic Health Records, practice management, e-
prescribing, document imaging, emergency department, and care management
solutions, all offered through the Company’s Clinical Solutions units.
Additionally, Allscripts provides clinical product education and connectivity
solutions for physicians and patients through its Physicians Interactive(TM)
unit, and medication fulfillment services through its Medication Services
unit. To learn more, visit Allscripts on the Web at https://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 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K, available through the Web site
maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
Allscripts Contacts: Poudre Valley Health System Contact:
Dan Michelson Gary Kimsey
Chief Marketing Officer PVHS Marketing
312-506-1217 (970) 495-7427
dan.michelson@allscripts.com
Todd Stein
Senior Manager/Public Relations
312-506-1216
todd.stein@allscripts.com
SOURCE Allscripts
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 Gary
Kimsey, Marketing of Poudre Valley Health System, +1-970-495-7427
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