Health Information Exchange to Connect Electronic Health Records, Other
Applications to Improve Patient Safety, Outcomes and Service
CHICAGO and HARTFORD, Conn., July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Allscripts
(Nasdaq: MDRX) and Transforming Healthcare in Connecticut Communities (THICC)
– a coalition of Connecticut’s leading hospitals, physician practices,
employer groups and insurers – today announced the formation of a statewide
Health Information Exchange (HIE) to improve the health of Connecticut’s
communities. The HIE solves one of the most pressing issues in healthcare
today, the lack of readily available patient information when and where it’s
needed to make critical patient care decisions.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081013/AQM041LOGO )
The formation of THICC is the first step in a groundbreaking effort to
develop the “physician office of the future” sharing patient information
electronically across multiple healthcare organizations and stakeholders. The
THICC HIE will link information from existing Electronic Health Record (EHR)
systems and those now being implemented by hospitals and physicians in
response to Electronic Health Record incentive funds included in the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. As more Connecticut providers
join the HIE and implement an Electronic Health Record, improved access to
timely clinical information will enable more coordinated patient care, better
health outcomes and lower costs.
“THICC will help address the decentralized and fragmented nature of our
healthcare delivery system and contribute to improved quality and better
safety for patients across Connecticut,” said Stephan O’Neill, Vice President
of Information Services at Hartford Healthcare Corporation, a THICC member and
the non-profit parent organization of Hartford Hospital. “With the passage of
the stimulus law and the availability of incentives for physicians to adopt
electronic health records, it’s clear that a tipping point has been reached
and the time has come for us to provide the linking bridge between all of the
applications used by healthcare providers.”
To facilitate THICC’s goals, a number of the coalition members are
subsidizing the cost of the Allscripts Electronic Health Record, helping
physician members to act now, ahead of the ARRA incentives, which become
available in 2011 and are spread over five years. THICC will also enable other
Electronic Health Record systems to connect to the HIE. Additionally, THICC
will encourage all physicians who are not yet using an Electronic Health
Record to immediately subscribe to Allscripts electronic prescribing, a free
Web-based solution that eases the transition from paper to digital medicine
while improving patient safety by preventing drug-to-drug interactions and
other potential errors.
In addition to supporting the HIE and Electronic Health Record rollout,
THICC will develop training and deployment tools for physician practices that
will allow them to quickly adopt the new health information technologies.
Bruce Campbell, MD, Chief Information Officer of ProHealth Physicians, the
largest primary care medical group in Connecticut, a THICC-member, and an
Allscripts Electronic Health Record user, commented, “THICC will be a
significant aid to Connecticut physicians and the communities they serve. Our
ability to provide the best care to our patients depends on the ease of access
to important information held by other organizations involved in a patient’s
care. Today, this information is difficult to access and sometimes completely
unavailable when it is needed most – and THICC is the answer.”
Participating members of the THICC coalition include 20 hospitals, several
federally qualified health centers, and physician organizations and private
group practices across the state, many of whom already use the Allscripts
Electronic Health Record or other Allscripts solutions. Several employer
groups also participate. THICC is reaching out to all other caregivers in
Connecticut to participate in the coalition’s comprehensive strategy.
The HIE initiative is but one aspect of an overall plan to introduce new
information technology to Connecticut health care providers. Senior THICC
hospital executives are now holding joint discussions to develop an initial
set of performance improvement targets on quality of care issues. Measuring
the coalition’s progress against the targets can only be accomplished by
accessing the data that will flow from the HIE – data that also will enable
THICC members to improve care across entire populations of patients.
Elliot Joseph, Chief Executive Officer of coalition member Hartford
Healthcare Corporation, said, “Hartford Healthcare, our hospitals and
physicians, are steadfastly committed to excellence in health care delivery
and the essential role of information technology to improve the delivery
system. We actively support the development of a statewide HIE approach to
serve our community.”
Christopher Dadlez, Chief Executive Officer of coalition member Saint
Francis Hospital and Medical Center, commented, “The potential to improve
patient care and safety by providing access to vital, integrated clinical
information is an imperative for our industry. Improvements are expected in
operational efficiencies, and the ability to measure and manage the quality of
care, which will allow us to reduce costs and participate in research
opportunities. And our patients will be the direct and immediate
beneficiaries.”
The Allscripts Electronic Health Record is the leading EHR system in
Connecticut and has been selected by coalition members ProHealth Physicians,
Hartford HealthCare, Saint Francis Care, Connecticut Multispecialty Group,
Connecticut Surgical Group, and HealthWise physicians, among many others.
The coalition’s positive experience with Allscripts was the primary reason
the members selected Allscripts as the sponsored Electronic Health Record,
according to O’Neill.
“We consider Allscripts to be the best electronic health record to meet
THICC’s goals,” said O’Neill. “When we began developing this program,
Allscripts very quickly popped to the top of the list because of the positive
experience of our affiliated groups. And when we reviewed competitive
offerings with physicians in our community, there was unanimity that
Allscripts was the way to go.”
Allscripts Chief Executive Officer Glen Tullman commented: “The THICC
coalition is bridging the information gap and taking a critical step in
fulfilling the vision of a connected system of health that provides physicians
with the tools and the information to improve the quality of patient care,
reduce unnecessary procedures, and therefore lower costs. We applaud the
visionary leadership of Hartford Healthcare and the THICC coalition partners,
many of whom are Allscripts customers, in creating this coalition. We expect
healthcare organizations in regions across America will rapidly follow their
leadership.”
The Allscripts Electronic Health Record automates and improves the safety
of everyday clinical tasks, including prescribing and refilling medications,
ordering and reviewing tests, and documenting patient care. The Allscripts
solution was named the No. 1 product in its market segment for the second year
in a row by the prestigious research group, KLAS, considered the “Consumer
Reports of healthcare IT.”
Beginning in 2010, Hartford Healthcare and ProHealth Physicians will offer
Allscripts Practice Management as their own practice management system to
THICC members. Physicians will be encouraged to implement the Allscripts
billing, scheduling and revenue cycle management solution to better connect
their back-office functions with the Electronic Health Record.
THICC also includes plans for a Personal Health Record (PHR), so that
patients can participate directly in their own care.
Allscripts, working with THICC, will be using an open source based
software solution that is needed for participating community providers to
seamlessly view and exchange critical healthcare information between all the
community stakeholders – providers, patients, hospitals, labs, and diagnostic
centers. The solution will allow physicians who use the Allscripts Electronic
Health Record and other suppliers’ EHR applications to access secure patient
information from all THICC participants. Misys Open Source Solutions, a
division of Misys plc (FTSE: MSY.L) is providing the open source solution as
well as the consulting associated with the implementation under contract to
Allscripts.
Bob Barthelmes, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Misys Open
Source Solutions, commented: “Transforming Healthcare in Connecticut
Communities is truly visionary in its embracing of open source technologies
and standards, which we believe will become an important model for the United
States in Health Information Exchange creation. We are very pleased to be
partnering with Allscripts and THICC on this industry changing initiative.”
About Allscripts
Allscripts uses innovation technology to bring health to healthcare. More
than 160,000 physicians, 800 hospitals and nearly 8,000 post-acute and
homecare organizations utilize Allscripts to improve the health of their
patients and their bottom line. The company’s award-winning solutions include
electronic health records, electronic prescribing, revenue cycle management,
practice management, document management, medication services, hospital care
management, emergency department information systems and homecare automation.
Allscripts is the brand name of Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc. To
learn more, visit www.allscripts.com.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements regarding future events,
developments, the Company’s future performance, as well as management’s
expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, estimates or projections relating to
the future are forward-looking statements within the meaning of these laws.
These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties, some of which are outlined below. As a result, actual results
may vary materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements.
Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are: the
volume and timing of systems sales and installations; length of sales cycles
and the installation process; the possibility that products will not achieve
or sustain market acceptance; the timing, cost and success or failure of new
product and service introductions, development and product upgrade releases;
competitive pressures including product offerings, pricing and promotional
activities; our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships;
undetected errors or similar problems in our software products; compliance
with existing laws, regulations and industry initiatives and future changes in
laws or regulations in the healthcare industry; possible regulation of the
Company’s software by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; the possibility
of product-related liabilities; our ability to attract and retain qualified
personnel; our ability to identify and complete acquisitions, manage our
growth and integrate acquisitions; the ability to recognize the benefits of
the merger with Misys Healthcare Systems, LLC (“MHS”); the integration of MHS
with the Company and the possible disruption of current plans and operations
as a result thereof; maintaining our intellectual property rights and
litigation involving intellectual property rights; risks related to
third-party suppliers; our ability to obtain, use or successfully integrate
third-party licensed technology; breach of our security by third parties; and
the risk factors detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including our 2007 Annual Report on Form
10-K available through the Web site maintained by the Securities and Exchange
Commission at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update
publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE Allscripts
-0- 07/20/2009
/CONTACT: Dan Michelson, Chief Marketing Officer, +1-312-506-1217, or
dan.michelson@allscripts.com, Todd Stein, Senior Manager/Public Relations,
+1-312-506-1216, or todd.stein@allscripts.com, both of Allscripts; John Lynch,
Executive Director, Connecticut Center for Primary Care, +1-860-284-5288, or
jlynch@centerforprimarycare.org, of Transforming Healthcare in Connecticut
Communities/
/Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081013/AQM041LOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com//
/Web Site: https://www.allscripts.com /
(MDRX MDRX)
CO: Allscripts; Transforming Healthcare in Connecticut Communities; Hartford
Healthcare Corporation; ProHealth Physicians; Aetna, Inc.; Connecticut
Multispecialty Group; Connecticut Surgical Group; HealthWise; Saint
Francis Care; Misys Open Source Solutions
ST: Illinois, Connecticut
IN: HEA MTC HIN ECM MEQ NET
SU: JVN
PR
-- CG48506 --
1006 07/20/2009 09:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com