MedWest Health System Selects Allscripts Electronic Health Record and Practice Management for Employed Physicians

CHICAGO and SYLVA, N.C., July 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) announced today that MedWest Health System, a three-hospital system in western North Carolina, has selected Allscripts Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Practice Management (PM) solution for its 60 employed physicians.  MedWest is also planning to host and deliver the Allscripts solution to more than 200 independent physicians in the communities it serves.

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"Allscripts clearly has superior features and functionality, but what really tipped the scales in their favor was their demonstrated ability to implement and support the technology across a large physician enterprise," commented Steve Heatherly, Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President of Ambulatory Services for MedWest. "In addition, we've always planned to share the electronic health record with our non-employed community doctors as part of our physician integration strategy, and Allscripts has significant experience with similar deployment models."

MedWest adds to the Allscripts market-leading client footprint in North Carolina, where the company provides solutions to more than 3,300 individual physician practices.

MedWest expects to demonstrate "meaningful use" of the Electronic Health Record by next year so its providers can qualify for the maximum government subsidies under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). To get the system up and running in all of its offices in that time frame, MedWest will use the Allscripts READY accelerated deployment solution, a standardized implementation "tool kit" that provides best-in-class recommendations for products, certified workflows and implementation, along with automated processes for tracking and managing the implementation.  

MedWest's physicians also will use Allscripts Remote, which allows providers to access the Electronic Health Record remotely on their iPhone™, BlackBerry® or Windows® Mobile smartphone; Allscripts Patient Portal, enabling patients to access their records and communicate online with their physicians; and Allscripts Analytics, which analyzes EHR data, summarizes key performance indicators, and provides practice leaders and senior healthcare executives with high-level clinical information across their physician groups and networks to manage patient populations for better health.

"Analytics will help us measure outcomes and make sure we're using evidence-based medicine to produce the best possible patient outcomes," Heatherly said. "In addition, we want to be able to track referrals to understand the factors that influence physicians when they make referrals to our hospitals, other hospitals, and within the physician community."

MedWest will deploy the Allscripts Practice Management System to its owned practices before it introduces the Electronic Health Record. Today, Heatherly explained, MedWest's 15 ambulatory-care offices are using half a dozen different systems. Bringing them all live on the Allscripts PM system will make MedWest's central billing office more efficient and will improve revenue cycle management. Similarly, replacing the disparate EMRs in current use with the Allscripts Electronic Health Record will make delivering patient care more efficient and effective.

"As healthcare reform begins to change reimbursement methodologies, hospitals across the country want to align more closely with their physicians, whether employed or independent," said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts. "We're using  innovation technology to create true clinical integration among hospitals and physicians, independent of the systems they are using.  Allscripts is providing the tools and solutions for a connected system of health, one that will benefit MedWest and most importantly, its patients."

Additional Information on ARRA and Meaningful Use

Allscripts has recently deployed a number of resources to help physician practices demonstrate "meaningful use" and take advantage of the ARRA incentives:

• The Allscripts Stimulus Program provides physicians with a guarantee that the Allscripts Electronic Health Record they select will meet the EHR certification criteria provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Physicians can also benefit from an Allscripts financing program requiring no payments for software for six months, as well as programs focused on faster implementation to ensure physicians can access the Federal Stimulus incentives.
• The Allscripts Stimulus Center provides the latest information on ARRA, including frequently asked questions on Meaningful Use and Certification.
• The Allscripts Legislative & Regulatory Action Center is a place to learn about and take action on issues that are critical to the provider community, providing a simple, 'one touch' connection to elected officials.
• 'Go' is a website designed for physicians and other providers who are considering deploying Electronic Health Records and other healthcare information technologies.  Available at www.allscripts.com/go, the site provides easy access to best practices and success stories from the Allscripts client community of more than 160,000 physicians, 800 hospitals, and 10,000 post-acute care facilities.  

About MedWest

MedWest Health System includes Haywood Regional Medical Center in Waynesville, Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva and Swain County Hospital in Bryson City, with a system wide total of 323 licensed beds. In addition to the hospitals, MedWest operates the outpatient facilities Harris Medical Park in Sylva, Swain Medical Park in Bryson City, Medical Park of Franklin and is a partner in Mountain Regional Cancer Centers with a state-of-the-art radiation therapy facility in Sylva. MedWest serves 160,000 people in Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Macon and Graham counties with a medical staff of more than 230 physicians, many of whom are part of an employed physician network. MedWest is affiliated with Carolinas Healthcare System. For more information, visit www.westcare.org.

About Allscripts

Allscripts uses innovation technology to bring health to healthcare. More than 160,000 physicians, 800 hospitals and more than 10,000 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 Record, Electronic Prescribing, Revenue Cycle Solutions, Practice Management, Document Management, 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.

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SOURCE Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc.