Transforming Healthcare in Connecticut Communities and Allscripts Announce Health Information Exchange for Healthcare Providers Across Connecticut
Health Information Exchange to Connect Electronic Health Records, Other Applications to Improve Patient Safety, Outcomes and Service
CHICAGO and HARTFORD, Conn. (July 20, 2009) –
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.
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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/
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/Web Site: http://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
Source: Allscripts
