CHICAGO and MAUMEE, Ohio, April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Allscripts, the leading provider of clinical software and information solutions that physicians use to improve healthcare, announced today that St. Luke's Hospital has selected the Allscripts integrated Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Practice Management (PM) solution to automate and connect clinical and administrative processes for 100 physicians.
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The agreement with Allscripts takes advantage of recent changes to the federal Stark regulations that now allow hospitals to provide certain assistance to non-employed physicians in purchasing healthcare information technology. St. Luke's will host the Allscripts solution and subsidize its cost and ongoing maintenance for employed and independent members of its medical staff.
"By offering our physicians the Allscripts electronic health record and practice management solution, we can provide a seamless connection to critical patient information along the entire continuum of care," said Daniel Wakeman, President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Luke's. "Our goal is to develop a hospital-based community model under which St. Luke's Hospital and eventually all of the medical groups in northwestern Ohio join to offer truly integrated patient care."
St. Luke's Hospital, the only independent hospital in the Toledo area, has 600 affiliated physicians who care for more than 165,000 patients annually. The non-profit healthcare system is ranked in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide for cardiac surgery, according to HealthGrades.
Eric Perron, Director of Information Technology for St. Luke's, said the hospital selected Allscripts based on the company's success in deploying the Electronic Health Record and Practice Management solution for other hospital-based organizations.
"Allscripts is the type of company that we like to partner with -- a company with a strong vision, great leadership, and that's small enough to be nimble but big enough that we know they will not disappear," said Perron. "Many physicians in the community had already been looking at electronic health records, and when we brought Allscripts to the table it was obvious to everyone that they had the best solution and they could grow with us."
In addition to the integrated Electronic Health Record and Practice Management solution, St. Luke's will provide its patients with Allscripts iHealth -- a secure, online Personal Health Record and patient-provider communications service from Medem. St. Luke's also is exploring hosting Allscripts for physicians affiliated with several other Toledo-area hospitals. The hospital hopes to make the EHR-PM solution the focus of a community-wide patient record and patient portal that would provide patients, physicians and hospitals across the region with access to critical information when and where it's needed.
"We are proud that St. Luke's Hospital has chosen Allscripts to help develop an end-to-end community care model based on immediate access to patient information, anytime and anywhere," said Allscripts Chief Executive Officer Glen Tullman. "St. Luke's leadership will make it easier for community physicians in northwestern Ohio to improve the quality of care they deliver and ultimately lower the cost of running a medical practice. It's exciting to be a part of the future of healthcare."
The Allscripts Electronic Health Record delivers instant access to patient information when and where physicians 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.
Allscripts Practice Management combines sophisticated scheduling and Revenue Cycle Management tools to help physician practices become more productive while improving service to patients. Fully integrated with the EHR, Allscripts Practice Management helps physician practices to manage and reduce outstanding accounts receivable; reduce billing errors that delay cash flow; and access information to improve efficiency and provide valuable insight into the practice.
St. Luke's will integrate Allscripts with its inpatient information systems, enabling physicians to view the charts, schedules, lab results and radiology results of their hospitalized patients.
About St. Luke's Hospital
Located in Maumee, St. Luke's Hospital is the only independent hospital in the Toledo area. Each year, this non-profit health care organization cares for more than 165,000 patients. Its 1,500 employees and more than 600 physicians provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services including cardiac, oncology, labor and delivery, medical/surgical, pediatric, critical and emergency care. According to the Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study, St. Luke's ranks among the top 10 percent in the nation for cardiac surgery and was rated best in the region for cardiac surgery and overall orthopedic services. The study, the largest of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes at virtually all of the nation's 5,000 hospitals over the years 2004, 2005 and 2006.
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 unique solutions inform, connect and transform healthcare, delivering improved care at lower cost. More than 40,000 physicians and thousands of other healthcare professionals in clinics, hospitals and extended care facilities nationwide utilize Allscripts to automate everyday tasks such as writing prescriptions, documenting patient care, managing billing and scheduling, and safely discharging patients, as well as to connect with key information and stakeholders in the healthcare system. To learn more, visit Allscripts 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 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K, available through the Web site maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov.
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