Pocono Health System Goes Live on New Electronic Medical System

East Stroudsburg, Pa. (April 18, 2008) – Pocono Health System (PHS) announced today that it is live with eClinicalWorks® unified electronic medical record (EMR) and practice management (PM) software for its employed physicians. PHS is also launching eClinicalWorks Patient Portal to improve patient/provider communications and recently expanded its contract to include eClinicalWorks Enterprise Business Optimizer (eBO). With its employed physicians live on the EMR/PM, PHS is offering this solution to independent practices, with plans to create a community health record.
“PHS is proud to serve our physicians and our patients with the most advanced technology in medical records and communications,” said Kathleen E. Kuck, interim president & CEO of Pocono Medical Center and Pocono Health System. “Forging a relationship with eClinicalWorks reflects our strong commitment to providing our physicians with the technologies necessary to ensure excellence in patient care.”
eClinicalWorks is a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems and has been improving patient care in physician practices and health systems across the country, thanks to the innovative and comprehensive functionality of its products. “Many of our physicians see patients at multiple locations,” said Nicholas Christiano, vice president of administrative services and CIO of PHS. “This, along with the obvious benefits to area patients, led to the goal of creating a community health record. We selected eClinicalWorks because of the intuitive workflow of the product and the stability of the company. Implementation went quite smoothly. We converted from our previous practice management system to the EMR/PM, with very little interruption to our community.”
PHS has implemented eClinicalWorks unified EMR/PM system to streamline the clinical processes between practice locations and promote patient safety, while reducing costs. PHS will also use the Patient Portal to promote increased communication between patients and providers. Moreover, e-prescribing will provide a direct link between the practice and the computer at the pharmacy (not the fax machine), establishing a two-way electronic connection. PHS has also chosen to implement eClinicalWorks Enterprise Business Optimizer (eBO), which uses meta-data to give the practice more flexibility through the creation of customized reports and by performing clinical and financial analysis.
“Pocono realizes the benefits of community health records and is taking on a significant role in seeing them benefit the areas they serve in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” said Girish Kumar Navani, CEO and co-founder of eClinicalWorks. “Using eClinicalWorks EMR/PM along with our Patient Portal and Enterprise Business Optimizer will provide an ideal platform for establishing such a record.”
Pocono Medical Center is an acute-care hospital accredited by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the national organization responsible for rigorous review of hospital procedures and policies. PMC provides high quality, state-of-the-art acute medical care and is committed to patient satisfaction, education, and promotion of wellness. Pocono Medical Center includes the Dale and Frances Hughes Cancer Center, the Clementine Abeloff Community Health Center, the Mattioli Emergency Center, the ESSA Heart and Vascular Institute and numerous other inpatient and outpatient services. PMC is part of the Pocono Health System (PHS).
PMC is also associated with Pocono Health Foundation; PMC Physician Associates: Hospitalists; PMC Physician Associates: Infectious Disease; PMC Physician Associates: Dental Care; PMC Physician Associates: General Surgery; Pocono Occupational Medicine; PMC Physician Associates: Orthopaedic Surgery; PMC Physician Associates: Pediatrics; PMC Physician Associates: Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; Pocono Ambulatory Services; Pocono Healthcare Management, including the following services: PMC Physician Associates: Hematology and Oncology; PMC Physician Associates: Internal Medicine; PMC Physician Associates: Family Medicine; Obstetrics and gynecology and Pocono Healthcare Partners, a joint venture with PHS and Advanced Radiology Services and the Center for Women’s Well-Being.

Source: eClinicalWorks