Poudre Valley Health System Selects Allscripts Electronic Health Record and Practice Management for Staff Physicians in Three-State Area
Agreement with Hospital Group Highlights Impact of Stark Regulatory Changes on Donations of Technology to Physicians
CHICAGO and FORT COLLINS, Colo., (November 07, 2007) –
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 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 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
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061005/ALLSCRIPTSLOGO-b)
Source: Allscripts
