ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Eclipsys Corporation (NASDAQ: ECLP), The Outcomes Company®, today announced that Cottage Health System (Cottage) of Santa Barbara, CA, will utilize a combination of the company’s ambulatory and health information exchange (HIE) solutions to support its eHealth Partnership initiative. Designed to promote improved safety and overall quality of care, the eHealth Partnership will utilize Eclipsys’ PeakPractice™ electronic medical record (EMR)/practice management (PM) solution, along with Eclipsys HealthXchange™, powered by Medicity, to link participating community physicians with Cottage’s Sunrise Enterprise™ inpatient technology environment. The arrangements will centralize the availability of secure access to the latest electronic patient data across facilities to improve the continuity of care, enhance practice efficiency and support caregivers in their decision making both in the physician office and in the hospital – all key areas that impact both patient and provider satisfaction.
Physician Choice for More Connected, Safer Care; Supports Achieving Expected ARRA Criteria
In an effort to accelerate physician participation in the eHealth Partnership, Cottage will subsidize the purchase, maintenance and support of the PeakPractice EMR for medical staff members of the healthcare system. Because of the vendor-neutral technology of Eclipsys HealthXchange, physicians interested in participating in the eHealth Partnership will have the choice to implement PeakPractice, or keep their heritage EMR system. In addition, all physician practices that participate in the eHealth Partnership will be connected to Eclipsys HealthXchange for no additional integration costs. Participating in the initiative also will serve to aid both Cottage and local physicians in achieving the expected “Meaningful Use” criteria of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
“We are excited about the opportunities in improving communication among providers, care quality, continuity and, most importantly, safety associated with PeakPractice and the HealthXchange platform,” said Alberto Kywi, vice president and chief information officer of Cottage Health System. “This new ability to communicate and exchange data with our community providers will assist us in our mission to provide superior health care through a commitment to our communities and to our core values of excellence, integrity and compassion.”
Cottage and Eclipsys: Partners through the Years
The selection of PeakPractice and HealthXchange builds upon a strong relationship between Eclipsys and Cottage. Cottage selected Sunrise Critical Care™ for clinical documentation in 1998, then chose Eclipsys in 2000 for its accounting and patient finance management needs. A few years later, Eclipsys was again selected to deliver a new, more advanced electronic health record (EHR) solution that could further support the fluid needs of its multi-entity environment and teaching hospital. Since then, Cottage has achieved significant outcomes in patient safety, physician adoption and the overall revenue cycle process – increasing average monthly collections from $14 million to $21 million, reducing net days receivable by more than 50 percent and reducing average billing holds from $10 million to less than $1 million.
“Healthcare providers are facing many industry challenges, including meeting federal stimulus requirements associated with ARRA,” said Jay Deady, Eclipsys’ executive vice president, Client Solutions. “Through the use of Eclipsys’ PeakPractice and HealthXchange solutions, Cottage can achieve greater continuity of care and enhanced patient safety across its care community, reducing costs, improving outcomes, and making great strides in tackling these industry challenges.”
“PeakPractice is a very appealing solution with a high ease of use and flexibility that was developed and designed to integrate and automate all of the paper work and clinical documentation required for a community practice setting,” continued Mr. Deady. “We look forward to supporting Cottage in connecting all healthcare provider constituents in their care community and in providing local physicians with the tools and connectivity they need to better manage their clinical and financial objectives.”
Support for Interoperability and Medical History Requirements of ARRA “Meaningful Use”
In order to receive ARRA stimulus incentives, eligible healthcare providers must demonstrate “meaningful use” of interoperable EHR systems that assist with the exchange of health information with other providers to support more coordinated care. Eclipsys’ HealthXchange offers an adaptable, scalable and secure HIE platform that will facilitate the sharing of patient information across disconnected EMRs in place at multiple practices in the care community. Cottage also selected PeakPractice’s patient portal and kiosk to support the enhanced exchange of personal health information with their physicians, including medications and known allergies.
About Cottage Health System
Cottage Health System, formed in 1996 as the not-for-profit parent organization of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital (and its affiliated Cottage Children’s Hospital and Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital), Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital, and Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital, is guided by a volunteer board of directors from the greater Santa Barbara community and provides the residents of the Central and South Coast with exemplary healthcare, continuous improvements in medical practice, and a commitment to its communities. For more information, visit www.cottagehealthsystem.org.
About PeakPractice
PeakPractice is an award-winning Microsoft .NET-based EMR/PM solution offering an integrated database designed to tightly align the clinical and administrative workflows of single, multi-specialty or multi-facility environments. PeakPractice includes e-prescribing, patient portals, patient kiosk, supply chain management, image management and a Web portal for physicians and patients. The solution is highly scalable and can be delivered via a hosted service model or run on-site in the client’s own environment.
About Eclipsys HealthXchange
Eclipsys HealthXchange, powered by Medicity, provides singular connectivity to consolidated EHR software data through a browser-based clinical application that can be accessed by physician practices, clinics, hospitals, labs, imaging centers, pharmacies and other healthcare facilities. Widespread, secure access to interoperable EHR data helps Eclipsys’ clients to increase patient safety, drives clinician and administrative productivity, and fosters a more holistic and proactive approach to patient care.
About Eclipsys
Eclipsys is a leading provider of advanced integrated clinical, revenue cycle and performance management software, clinical content and professional services that help healthcare organizations improve clinical, financial and operational outcomes. For more information, see www.eclipsys.com or email [email protected].
Statements in this news release concerning the implementation of and features and benefits provided by Eclipsys software, ARRA qualification, evidence-based content and services are forward-looking statements and actual results may differ from those projected due to a variety of risks and uncertainties. Implementation and client-specific configuration of Eclipsys software can be complex and time-consuming. Results depend upon a variety of factors and can vary by client. Each client’s circumstances are unique and may include unforeseen issues that make it more difficult than anticipated to implement or derive benefit from Eclipsys software or services. The success and timeliness of the company’s services will depend at least in part upon client involvement, which can be difficult to control. Eclipsys is required to meet specified performance standards, and the contract can be terminated or its scope reduced under certain circumstances. ARRA qualification requires compliance with standards that are still evolving, and satisfaction of those standards may be delayed. More information about company risks is available in recent Form 10-Q and 10-K filings made by Eclipsys from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Special attention is directed to the portions of those documents entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Eclipsys, The Outcomes Company, PeakPractice, HealthXchange, Sunrise Enterprise, and Sunrise Critical Care are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Eclipsys Corporation (or its subsidiaries) in the United States and certain other countries. Other product and company names in this news release are or may be trademarks of their respective companies.
CONTACT:
Eclipsys:
(media)
Robin Wrinn, 404-847-5219
Director, Public Relations
[email protected]
or
Jason Cigarran, 404-847-5965
Vice President, Investor Relations
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America Georgia
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Software Health Hospitals
MEDIA:
| Logo |