UMass Memorial Health Care Unveils Groundbreaking Integration of Online Diabetes Management and Electronic Health Record

Teams with MyCareTeam to connect patients and care providers through remote patient monitoring linked to Allscripts EHR

WORCESTER, Mass., June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- UMass Memorial Health Care is aiming to improve and lower the cost of diabetes care using a new approach that allows patients and their care team to better manage their health remotely. UMass Memorial, clinical partner of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is the first health care provider in the United States to integrate MCT Clinical, a new web-based diabetes management system from MyCareTeam, with the Allscripts electronic health record (EHR) solution used by UMass Memorial's physicians in ambulatory settings. UMass Memorial has already enrolled more than 1,000 patients, enabling patients to upload their blood glucose meters from home or from within UMass Memorial outpatient offices – and to have that data easily added to the patient's medical record. The UMass Memorial diabetes care team has already noted significant improvements in clinic patient flow and greater efficiencies within the clinic, since blood glucose meters can be uploaded by the patient at home and all meter uploads use the same system.

By capturing and presenting patient data in an easy-to-access format that can be seen by the patient and his or her health care team, the integration of MCT Clinical and the Allscripts EHR is expected to improve long-term diabetes management, and enable collaboration among an interdisciplinary team of primary care providers, nutritionists, endocrinologists, diabetes educators and family members. Moreover, UMass Memorial providers using the integrated solutions will be able to remotely monitor their patients' health from their EHR.  As a result, providers will be more intimately involved in care management and patients will receive the information and tools they can use to better self-manage their health.

"The current care delivery model of periodic patient visits to their health care providers does not lend itself to the regular, disciplined self-management and care required for successful treatment of diabetes," said David Harlan, MD, codirector of the UMass Memorial Health Care Diabetes Center of Excellence and the William and Doris Krupp Professor of Medicine at University of Massachusetts Medical School. "Integrating MCT Clinical with the Allscripts EHR revolutionizes our care for patients with diabetes and provides efficiencies not previously possible. Not only is it easier and faster than other meter upload systems, but the EHR integration gives us a comprehensive view of our patients' health status and enables better population health management."

Studies indicate that diabetes patients benefit significantly from regular monitoring of simple parameters such as nutrition, glucose levels and regular intake of prescribed medications.  Non-compliance with the recommended treatment regimen can lead to serious complications and costly but avoidable emergency room visits.  The MCT Clinical-Allscripts EHR integration facilitates ongoing monitoring and can help patients gain greater control of their condition.

"I like knowing that when I contact them, my entire care team at UMass Memorial can now access my health records and from those records, also see my 'real time' blood glucose meter data which I can easily upload from home," said Michaella Conlon, a 17-year-old from Leominster, MA. "The fact that my care team can now access all my diabetes relevant data to advise me gives me peace of mind, and my health care team seems happy about it, too."

Michaella's parents are also pleased with the new approach. "We all feel more empowered by this new system," said Michael Conlon, Michaella's father. "It makes assisting her with the management of her diabetes so much easier."

The Allscripts-MyCareTeam integration is a part of Cornerstone, UMass Memorial's multi-year, multi-entity corporate initiative to implement common patient clinical and financial systems and to reduce variability in processes and workflows across the system.

"Managing care for patients with diabetes is truly a team effort," said Ronald Adler, MD, a family medicine physician, director of primary care practice improvement at UMass Memorial's Center for the Advancement of Primary Care and assistant professor of family medicine and community health at University of Massachusetts Medical School. "This integrated approach promotes the view that patients are the most important member of the diabetes care team and the idea that some of the most important management of diabetes occurs between visits.  The opportunity to communicate efficiently between visits adds tremendous value for patients and the health care team, as it enhances quality while conserving resources. Communication through this innovative system may help resolve health care problems and avoid extra office visits."

MCT Clinical is a new software platform that was specifically integrated with the Allscripts EHR and can manage other chronic diseases besides diabetes such as weight management, blood pressure and in the future, asthma. 

MCT Clinical is essentially a behavior modification tool that allows individuals with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and their care providers to collaborate and monitor glucose levels, insulin dosage, carbohydrates consumed, exercise history and other factors known to affect glycemic control.  The software allows patients to download their blood glucose readings to MCT Clinical from the vast majority of commercially available meters through a secure, HIPAA-compliant web-based application directly from any personal computer with Internet access. The data can then easily be imported and presented in the appropriate place and time within the caregiver's EHR workflow.

"We are extremely pleased to be an integral part of a revolutionary change in patient care with respect to diabetes," said Jim Mingle, chief executive officer of MyCareTeam. "MCT Clinical has been shown to improve the health of those who suffer from diabetes, and now because of its integration with the Allscripts EHR, patients and care providers will have an even tighter relationship which will result in better overall health outcomes."

"This innovative partnership demonstrates yet again UMass Memorial Health Care's leadership in finding opportunities to provide better care to their patients and include them as a part of the entire care process," said Glen Tullman, chief executive officer of Allscripts, who also serves on the International Board of Directors of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the world's largest research organization devoted to finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. "Active self-management paired with health monitoring by a care team are two of the most critical aspects of controlling diabetes and preventing long-term complications. By integrating remote monitoring with the Electronic Health Record, we're delivering the insights that will drive improved care along with the population disease management capabilities that healthcare organizations will need to be successful in the coming age of value-driven reimbursement."  

About UMass Memorial Health Care
UMass Memorial Health Care is Central Massachusetts' largest not-for-profit health care delivery system, covering the complete health care continuum with UMass Memorial Medical Center, its academic medical center, member and affiliated community hospitals, freestanding primary care practices, ambulatory outpatient clinics, home health agencies, hospice programs, a rehabilitation group and mental health services. UMass Memorial is the clinical partner of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. To learn more about UMass Memorial, please visit www.umassmemorial.org, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

About MyCareTeam, Inc.
MyCareTeam, Inc. was founded to provide software offerings that are designed to help people with diabetes, hypertension, and weight management to collaborate and manage their illness while reducing overall healthcare costs.  The company's offering has been successfully used for over seven years by patients, doctors and nurses to dramatically improve the health and wellness of people with the  aforementioned chronic health issues to reduce overall healthcare costs. MyCareTeam is headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts and the company's website is www.mycareteam.com

Contact:
UMass Memorial
Rob Brogna
508-793-5394
774-317-0422
[email protected]
Twitter: http://twitter.com/umassmemorial

MyCareTeam
Donna Slattery
978-496-1794
[email protected]

SOURCE UMass Memorial Medical Center