DALLAS, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- From the floor of the National Association for Home Care's (NAHC) 29th Annual Conference & Exhibition, Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) today introduced Allscripts Mobile HomecareTM, an extension of the Allscripts Homecare solution and the industry's first smartphone application specifically designed for physical therapists, nurse assistants and other clinicians who care for patients in their homes.
By delivering point-of-care access to vital patient information in the full Allscripts Homecare solution - an electronic health record (EHR) for homecare agencies - Allscripts Mobile Homecare helps to prepare homecare agencies and hospices for the widely anticipated 'Silver Tsunami.' The term refers to the aging of 80 million Baby Boomers, the first of whom reached the Medicare-eligible age of 65 this year. That influx of potential homecare and hospice patients, combined with a severe clinician and aid shortage, has the industry collectively poised for a crisis in point of care delivery.
"Allscripts Mobile Homecare comes at just the right moment, making it easier for our physical therapists to take care of more patients in their home," said Beau Sorensen, Chief Financial Officer of First Choice Home Health & Hospice, whose 170 clinicians provide home-based and hospice care for patients across Utah. "We expect that Allscripts Mobile Homecare will increase both the speed and quality of our therapist's supporting documentation, increasing our compliance with government regulations, while improving our clinicians' work-life balance. This is the solution that home health providers have been waiting for."
Allscripts Mobile Homecare is the first application targeted for specific types of homecare caregivers and is designed with workflow considerations as a key principle. Until now, there have been few mobile electronic options for homecare and hospice clinicians. Traditional laptop point-of-care platforms are not well suited to the mobility, flexibility and ease of use requirements demanded in the variety of post-acute care environments. Existing PDA platforms, on the other hand, are primarily focused on administrative functions like schedule compliance and mileage entry and do not include the clinical information required to deliver world class patient care. That ability is becoming increasingly important as care teams take responsibility for patients in Accountable Care Organizations, which will require seamless transfer of clinical and cost information and care coordination.
Allscripts Mobile Homecare runs on a smartphone, extending the benefits of the EHR into the home with an easy-to-use interface for staff, permitting effortless data gathering and updating of the clinical record while preserving the hands-on care-giving interaction so vital to the patient encounter.
Patients also benefit from Allscripts Mobile Homecare's ability to improve continuity of care by ensuring clinicians have access to the most up-to-date patient information. The solution also facilitates the safer delivery of medications by sharing accurate medication and allergy lists across care environments.
"Homecare agencies and hospices are, for the first time, being understood as a critical component in the continuum of care," said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts. "We need to leverage technology to provide clinicians, nurses and other caregivers in this space with better clinical information so when they receive patients from hospitals and other care environments, they can deliver optimal care and spend less time on administrative tasks. Allscripts Mobile Homecare connects to real-time information and new capabilities that not only make it easier for clinicians to make informed decisions but also save them valuable time."
NAHC attendees can view a demonstration of Allscripts Mobile Homecare beginning today in booth #819.
Multimedia Image
Journalists and others may access an image of Allscripts Mobile Homecare by visiting http://www.allscripts.com/products/home-care/mobile/images/hc-mobile-dashboard.jpg.
About Allscripts
Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) provides innovative solutions that empower all stakeholders across the healthcare continuum to deliver world-class outcomes. The company's clinical, financial, connectivity and information solutions for hospitals, physicians and post-acute organizations are the essential technologies that enable a connected healthcare community. To learn more about Allscripts, please visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Forward-Looking Statements
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Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among other things: the possibility that the expected synergies, efficiencies and cost savings of the merger with Eclipsys Corporation ("Eclipsys") will not be realized, or will not be realized within the expected time period; potential difficulties or delays in achieving platform and product integration and the connection and movement of data among hospitals, physicians, patients and others; the risk that the Allscripts and Eclipsys businesses will not be integrated successfully; competition within the industries in which we operate; failure to achieve certification under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act could result in increased development costs, a breach of some customer obligations and could put us at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace; the volume and timing of systems sales and installations, the length of sales cycles and the installation process and the possibility that our 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; the outcome of any legal proceeding that has been or may be instituted against us; compliance with existing laws, regulations and industry initiatives and future changes in laws or regulations in the healthcare industry, including possible regulation of our software by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; the possibility of product-related liabilities; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; the implementation and speed of acceptance of the electronic record provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; maintaining our intellectual property rights and litigation involving intellectual property rights; risks related to third-party suppliers and our ability to obtain, use or successfully integrate third-party licensed technology; and breach of ours security by third parties. See our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2010 and other public filings with the SEC for a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties applicable to our business. The statements herein speak only as of their date and we undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or changes in expectations.