East Jefferson General Hospital Selects Allscripts Electronic Health Record, Offers Free Electronic Prescribing for Affiliated New Orleans-Area Physicians
Hospital Leverages Federal Rule-Change Allowing Donations of Technology to Community Physicians
CHICAGO and METAIRIE, La., (June 30, 2008) –
Allscripts, the leading provider of clinical software and information solutions that physicians use to improve healthcare, announced today that East Jefferson General Hospital (EJGH) has selected the Allscripts Electronic Health Record (EHR) for 138 of its employed and affiliated physicians, in the first phase of an anticipated deployment to all of the hospital’s affiliated physicians. The New Orleans-area hospital also will offer Allscripts electronic prescribing technology at no charge to other medical staff who are not using the Electronic Health Record at this time.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061005/ALLSCRIPTSLOGO-b)
In deploying the Allscripts Electronic Health Record for physicians in its owned medical group as well as affiliated physicians, EJGH is leveraging recent changes to the federal Stark regulations which allow hospitals to subsidize the purchase of healthcare information technology for non-employed physicians.
“By offering physicians in the East Bank of Jefferson Parish the Allscripts electronic health record, we hope to provide a seamless connection to critical patient information throughout the entire continuum of care, anytime and anywhere,” said Mark J. Peters, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of East Jefferson General Hospital. “Our goal is to help all of the region’s physicians to connect electronically to East Jefferson for truly integrated patient care.”
Opened in 1971 as a non-profit hospital in Metairie, adjacent to New Orleans, EJGH today has 450 beds and 3,000 employees. In 2002 the hospital was named Louisiana’s first Nurse Magnet Hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a status that places it among the nation’s top hospitals. It is one of only eight facilities nationwide to hold affiliate status with M.D. Anderson Physicians Network, the nation’s leader in cancer care, and was recently ranked the No. 1 cardiac care hospital in Louisiana by HealthGrades.
The Allscripts Electronic Health Record automates everyday clinical tasks such as documenting patient care, ordering and reviewing tests, and prescribing and refilling medications. EJGH will integrate the Allscripts solution with its inpatient information systems, enabling physicians outside the hospital to view the charts, schedules, lab results and radiology results of their hospitalized patients. The Electronic Health Record will be provided for EJGH physicians using secure Internet connections leveraging the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, a simple, affordable means of delivering vital patient information to caregivers without the upfront costs of purchasing new equipment to host the solution themselves. The SaaS model also speeds deployment and is becoming an increasingly important option for mid-size and independent practices.
“Physicians want to focus their time, effort, and money on caring for patients, not managing technology, and we think the Software as a Service model will make it easier for East Jefferson’s affiliated physicians to enter the electronic healthcare highway,” said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts. “Thanks to East Jefferson’s leadership, more physicians in Jefferson Parish will be able to improve the quality of care they deliver and more effectively manage the costs of their own medical practices.”
As part of its communitywide information strategy, EJGH will encourage affiliated physicians who do not implement the Allscripts EHR to adopt the Allscripts ePrescribe solution, a Web-based electronic prescribing application.
“Study after study has shown that electronic prescribing can help prevent needless medical errors, so for those physicians who choose not to implement the electronic health record, we want to make it as easy as possible for them to still prescribe electronically,” said EJGH Chief Medical Information Officer Chris Barrilleaux, MD. “We think electronic prescribing is a natural first step towards implementation of a full electronic health record.”
Designed to appeal to physicians in solo practice or small groups, the Allscripts ePrescribe solution requires no download, no new hardware, and minimal training. All prescriptions are instantly checked for drug-to-drug, drug-allergy and other potentially harmful interactions, and users receive real-time notification of insurance formulary status from leading payers, plans and pharmacy benefit managers.
In addition to the Allscripts solutions for physicians, EJGH’s vision includes providing patients with a secure, online Personal Health Record and patient-provider communications from Allscripts.
About East Jefferson General Hospital
East Jefferson General Hospital, Louisiana’s first Nurse Magnet hospital, is a publicly owned, not-for-profit, community hospital providing high quality care to the residents of the East Bank of Jefferson Parish and surrounding communities. East Jefferson General Hospital opened in 1971.
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 unique solutions inform, connect and transform healthcare, delivering improved care at lower cost. More than 40,000 physicians and thousands of other healthcare professionals in clinics, hospitals and extended care facilities nationwide utilize Allscripts to automate everyday tasks such as writing prescriptions, documenting patient care, managing billing and scheduling, and safely discharging patients, as well as to connect with key information and stakeholders in the healthcare system. To learn more, visit Allscripts at http://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 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K, available through the Web site maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov.
SOURCE Allscripts
-0- 06/30/2008
/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 Keith Darcey, Public and Media Relations of East Jefferson
General Hospital, +1-504-889-7110, kdarcey@ejgh.org/
/Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061005/ALLSCRIPTSLOGO-b
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com/
/Web site: http://www.allscripts.com /
(MDRX)
CO: Allscripts; East Jefferson General Hospital
ST: Illinois, Louisiana
IN: HEA CPR STW
SU:
PD-CS
— AQM044 —
5710 06/30/2008 09:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
Source: Allscripts
