CHICAGO and GULFPORT, Miss., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) announced today that Memorial Hospital at Gulfport has selected the Company's Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Practice Management (PM) solution, with Allscripts Revenue Cycle Management, to enhance the quality of the care delivered by its 100 employed physicians, improve patient communications, and better manage the cost of care delivery.
Memorial Hospital at Gulfport is the largest healthcare provider in the Gulfport , located 70 miles east of New Orleans, is one of the largest healthcare providers on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Among the most comprehensive medical facilities in Mississippi, Memorial is a not-for-profit 445-bed facility with 30 owned physician clinics, a medical staff of 275 physicians and a long history of investing in technology. Memorial is rated a Stage 5 hospital on the HIMSS Adoption scale, placing it in the top 5 percent of US hospitals for the use of information technologies to maximize patient safety.
"Our strategy of sustained investment in IT on the inpatient side has been crucial to becoming a leader in quality, patient safety and patient satisfaction, and we believe Allscripts will help us extend our delivery of high quality healthcare to the outpatient arena," said Richard Ferrans, MD, Vice President and Medical Information Officer of Memorial Hospital.
The Allscripts Electronic Health Record enables Memorial's physicians to instantly access patient information when and where they need it - in the clinic, at the hospital or while on-call at home -- and automates everyday clinical tasks such as prescribing medications, documenting patient visits and obtaining best-practice guidelines for care.
Ferrans said he is excited at the prospect of connecting the Electronic Health Record with the Mississippi Coast Health Information Exchange (MSCHIE) a state program that is focused on enhancing healthcare infrastructure in Gulf Coast counties that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Memorial is a founding member of the HIE, which will enable the hospital's physicians to share and access secure, aggregated patient clinical information from IT systems in physician offices, hospitals and other care sites 24 hours a day.
"We believe it's critical to connect our community of physicians to the HIE, to enhance the overall continuity of care, reduce costs, and ensure that up-to-date information is securely available to share between all providers on the Coast," said Ferrans.
Within the Memorial community, the Allscripts Electronic Health Record will give Memorial's physicians a dashboard view of key clinical measures including alerts when lab results and other data indicate a health threat, either to an individual patient or across the entire patient population. "Allscripts will help us understand better the needs of our patients so we can better plan our resources and effective interventions to improve the quality of our care," said Ferrans.
Memorial will provide its physicians with Allscripts Practice Management and Revenue Cycle Management solutions, which are used by thousands of physician groups across the U.S. to process more than 260 million claims annually and 500 million revenue cycle management transactions. The Allscripts Practice Management solution with integrated Revenue Cycle Management combines billing and scheduling with integrated claims, remittance and eligibility capabilities in a single package.
"We want to empower our physicians by giving them the tools they need to run their clinics more effectively and drive greater patient satisfaction," said Ferrans. "From a business perspective, this lets us take 30 different clinics and put them all on a common business platform for scheduling, workflow, and billing, and that will really help the clinics run more efficiently."
Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts, commented, "Memorial Hospital has set itself apart as a leader in the Gulf Coast by strategically using information technology to not only automate their own physicians and provide them with better information but also to connect them to the broader community of caregivers for improved health outcomes through the Mississippi Coast Health Information Exchange. By partnering with Allscripts, Memorial is encouraging more widespread and rapid adoption of technologies that will ultimately lead to better care for the Gulf Coast's patients and more productive and informed interactions for physicians."
About Memorial Hospital at Gulfport
Memorial Hospital at Gulfport ranks among the leading medical/surgical facilities in Mississippi. The not-for-profit, 445-bed, multi-specialty health system provides quality care regardless of a patient's ability to pay. Medical specialties include cardiovascular sciences, comprehensive medical rehabilitation, a child and adolescent behavioral health inpatient program, 14 school-based clinics, physician clinics, NICU, and a mobile immunization van. Memorial offers three-dimensional imaging, electronic medical records, a neuroscience center of excellence and advanced surgical techniques, including CyberKnife.® Located just 0.6 miles from the Mississippi coastline, Memorial stood strong during Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Memorial implemented a well-rehearsed disaster plan before, during and after the storm and was able to provide uninterrupted medical and emergency services.
In September 2007, The Joint Commission certified Memorial as Mississippi's first Primary Stroke Center. This designation means a stroke patient can receive the highest level of stroke treatment available anywhere in the nation. Memorial Inpatient Rehabilitation unit is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and is a certified Stroke Specialty program.
With more than 2,900 employees and more than 275 highly skilled physicians, Memorial is one of the top 10 employers on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Heading into the future guided by its mission statement "building a healthier community," Memorial remains steadfastly committed to improving patient care at every level - quality and safety, technology and medical expertise.
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, 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 [1].
Links:
[1] http://www.allscripts.com/