Chattanooga, Tenn. (August 4, 2009) Shared Health®, Inc., one of the nation's largest public/private Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), has been awarded the State of Mississippi's Division of Medicaid contract for implementation and operation of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system and electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) solution for the 600,000 Mississippi Medicaid beneficiaries.
Working with the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, Shared Health will connect the Medicaid beneficiaries medical information across his/her network of clinical providers using Shared Health products and services. Through this use of secure, innovative health information technology solutions at the point of care, Shared Health will help the Mississippi Division of Medicaid focus on reducing health care costs and promoting better patient care.
Shared Health brings their key technology partners, including Oracle, IBM, Initiate, and Axolotl, to the Mississippi solution. As part of the four-year contract, Shared Health will offer Mississippi Medicaid health care providers with a secure web-based EHR; an e-prescribing system; and access to hospital discharge information.Shared Health will also provide clinical outreach services in support of EHR adoption by Medicaid physicians statewide.
While cost savings is important in this economic environment, so are healthier outcomes and support of those most in need. Medicaid beneficiaries in Mississippi will benefit extensively from the improved outcomes provided by integrated, evidence-based technology, Robert Robinson, executive director, State of Mississippi Division of Medicaid, said.
"With the cost savings resulting from implementing an EHR/eScript System in Mississippi, we will be able to provide better service and care for the underserved population in our state," he concluded.
"Shared Health is proud to support the Mississippi Division of Medicaid in providing a statewide Electronic Health Record with eScript System that will result in better patient care. Shared Health's guiding principles of privacy, security and the highest of standards ensure the citizens of Mississippi the most secure, cost-efficient solution," said Jana Skewes, chief executive officer of Shared Health. "By integrating clinical decision support and population management tools, Shared Health is able to provide the State of Mississippi Division of Medicaid, and its clinicians and patients, a solution for managing and improving care. Shared Health supports clinicians in making more informed medical decisions at the point of care through access to more relevant clinical information, including lab results, medications, immunizations, and allergies. When combined with access to medical claims information and patient demographics, costs are reduced because the data-sharing eliminates duplicative services.
At the same time, patient safety and treatment outcomes are improved," Skewes noted. Through the partnership, the State of Mississippi Division of Medicaid will also be able to store records electronically in a secure location, allowing access to those records even in the event of a natural or man-made disaster, preserving critical health data of Medicaid recipients across the state.
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