• Atlantic General Hospital Achieves HIMSS EMRAM Level 6

    Allscripts Sunrise(TM) platform helps community hospital enhance care quality

    CHICAGO,IL – June 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) client Atlantic General Hospital, located in Berlin, MD, achieved Stage 6 on the HIMSS Analytics EMR Adoption ModelSM (EMRAM) using the Allscripts Sunrise acute electronic health record (EHR).

    The HIMSS Analytics EMR Adoption Model measures progress and the cumulative capabilities of EMR systems within hospitals. There are eight stages (0-7) in the HIMSS Analytics EMR Adoption Model, and 17.9% of hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics® Database have currently reached Stage 6. Hospitals that reach Stage 6 have established clear goals for improving safety, minimizing errors, and prioritizing IT implementations.

    “Atlantic General Hospital has strengthened our commitment to the community we serve by achieving best-in-class HIMSS standards, an impressive feat for a 62-bed hospital,” Michael Franklin, President and CEO of Atlantic General Hospital, said. “This accomplishment shows how highly our staff values our community of patients, as well as our strong focus on enhancing quality of care.”

    “Achieving this important designation underscores the commitment the entire organization has to be the very best we can be in regards to servicing our patients and community,” said Chief Information Officer of Atlantic General Hospital, Andrew Fowler. “An organization cannot make Level 6 without a complete team effort from our staff, clinicians, physicians, Administrative Leadership and Board of Trustees. We are now focused on achieving Level 7.”

    To further its patient care evolution, Atlantic General Hospital recently reconfirmed its commitment to Allscripts by deploying additional Sunrise solutions: SunriseTM Surgical Care, SunriseTM Radiology, SunriseTM Emergency Care and Sunrise Mobile MD II. This expansion is expected to help the hospital achieve efficiencies by moving towards a single platform for multiple points of patient care. The hospital also selected Allscripts EPSiTM to help it streamline its budgeting and decision support processes.

    Allscripts Sunrise is an integrated suite of solutions for acute, post-acute, ambulatory, revenue cycle and emergency healthcare providers. Allscripts Sunrise helps clients provide access to integrated patient information across care settings and community organizations and offers clinical decision support that can lead to improved outcomes.

    “Achieving this impressive designation shows how dedicated the team at Atlantic General Hospital is to the people who matter most: the patients,” said Rich Berner, President of Allscripts International and General Manager of Sunrise. “With the Allscripts Sunrise platform, Atlantic General Hospital can help enhance patient safety and streamline activities to improve the patient’s overall experience.”

    About Allscripts
    Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) is a leader in healthcare information technology solutions that advance clinical, financial and operational results. Our innovative solutions connect people, places and data across an Open, Connected Community of Health™. Connectivity empowers caregivers to make better decisions and deliver better care for healthier populations. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, YouTube and It Takes A Community: The Allscripts Blog.

    Posted 6.12.2015

  • Allscripts Expands Patient Administration System Presence in United Kingdom

    Allscripts signs two new PAS clients

    LONDON, ENG –  May 26, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) is pleased to announce East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust have each signed an agreement to deploy Allscripts PASTM. The Allscripts PAS will replace the Trusts’ existing system and will empower the organsations to use a highly flexible and configurable solution to manage patient data. Allscripts PAS is used across the National Health Service (NHS) in more than a dozen trusts and hospitals.

    “East Kent is committed to ‘putting patients first,’ and our agreement to deploy the Allscripts PAS will help us better deliver value-added comprehensive client care,” said Andrew Barker, Chief Information Officer. “Allscripts has shown that it offers a value-added, best-in-class solution, for us to keep on delivering excellent care for patients.”

    “At Maidstone and Tunbridge, patients are our number-one focus, and we look forward to further enhancing their experience through Allscripts PAS,” said Angela Gallagher, Chief Operating Officer. “The integrated workflow and the flexibility of the solution will enable our organisation to continually improve the efficiency of our care and make smarter decisions for our patients.”

    “East Kent and Maidstone and Tunbridge support our vision for how to transform health care in the UK,” said Rich Berner, President of Allscripts International. “We are honored to have them join the Allscripts family and look forward to partnering with these NHS trusts to help them better serve their communities with greater quality and efficiency.”

    These deployments reflect Allscripts continued expansion and progress in the UK. Last month, the company was awarded a place on the NHS SBS Clinical Information Systems Framework. The Framework can help NHS Trusts by providing access to critical technology like the solutions Allscripts’ offer, reducing procurement costs and enabling the NHS Trusts to localise their requirements. Allscripts was named in five of the six SBS categories.

    About Allscripts
    Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) is a leader in healthcare information technology solutions that advance clinical, financial and operational results. Our innovative solutions connect people, places and data across an Open, Connected Community of Health™. Connectivity empowers caregivers to make better decisions and deliver better care for healthier populations. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, YouTube and It Takes A Community: The Allscripts Blog.

    Posted 6.12.2015

  • Hospital for Special Care Achieves Industry Recognition for Patient Centered Specialty Care

    Allscripts Sunrise(TM) ambulatory care enables hospital to implement collaborative care process

     

    CHICAGO, IL – May 21, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Autism Center at Hospital for Special Care (HSC), an Allscripts client in New Britain, CT, USA, is the first organization to receive the Patient Centered Specialty Practice (PCSP) recognition for Autism from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). This recognition highlights specialty practices that successfully coordinate patient care and communicate with their primary care colleagues, other specialists and patients.

    HSC extended their Sunrise platform by deploying Allscripts SunriseTM Ambulatory Care to create an integrated electronic health record (EHR) process to meet PCSP criteria. The organization met or exceeded national standards for:

    • Communicating with primary care clinicians to exchange key information and establish coordinated care plans
    • Providing timely access to care and clinical advice based on patient need
    • Using a systematic approach to track referrals and coordinate care
    • Measuring and improving performance over time

    “The Autism Center at Hospital for Special Care is committed to providing high quality patient-centered care, with a focus on continuous quality improvements,” said Lynn Ricci, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Hospital for Special Care. “By using the Allscripts Sunrise solution, our care providers can assemble and access the patient data necessary to facilitate collaborative care. We are already seeing positive outcomes for our patients.”

    For example, HSC had an 8-year-old male patient diagnosed with an Autism spectrum disorder. The primary care physician determined that the patient’s academic program struggled to meet his needs and made a referral to a psychologist. Both care providers collaborated on a comprehensive care and treatment plan by using the shared EHR. As other specialists were added to the patient’s treatment plan, those care providers were also able to effectively contribute to the care plan by using the EHR.

    Sunrise Ambulatory Care from Allscripts is a complete solution for outpatient care that helps enable ambulatory practices to operate more efficiently through every stage of care and administration. As patients move from one environment to another, Sunrise Ambulatory Care tracks the vital processes related to the current orders, medications, results and documents to help ensure safety at every stage and handoff.

    “The Information Technology team at HSC played a pivotal role in the success of the Patient-Centered Specialty Practice (PCSP),” said Stanislaw Jankowski, vice president and chief information officer, Hospital for Special Care. “With Allscripts collaboration and Autism leaders, we optimized the use of Allscripts EHR for data capture and ensured all the required PCSP criteria were met.”

    “Hospital for Special Care is a leader in using Sunrise Ambulatory Care to deliver strong results for its patients,” said Allscripts Senior Vice President, Client Organization John Sage. “This impressive national recognition required a rigorous review of its capabilities, and it is great to see this organization receive the kudos it deserves for patient-centered care.”

    About Allscripts
    Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) is a leader in healthcare information technology solutions that advance clinical, financial and operational results. Our innovative solutions connect people, places and data across an Open, Connected Community of Health™. Connectivity empowers caregivers to make better decisions and deliver better care for healthier populations. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, YouTube and It Takes A Community: The Allscripts Blog.

    Posted 6.12.2015

  • Grand Lake Health System Selects Allscripts Sunrise (TM)

    Sunrise Acute Suite provides comprehensive single patient record

    CHICAGO, IL – May 8, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Grand Lake Health System of St. Marys, OH, selected the Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) SunriseTM platform as the core electronic health record (EHR) for its community of medical centers.

    Grand Lake Health System, which has selected the Allscripts Sunrise suite to further its commitment to community health strategy by creating a comprehensive single patient record that supports acute, ambulatory, clinical, emergency, surgical care and post-acute home care. The organization will also use Sunrise to support enhancement of the patient-care management processes. Grand Lake Health System intends to use the comprehensive Sunrise suite for all venues of care along with Sunrise’s enhanced revenue cycle management solution to support today’s value based reimbursement model.

    “With Sunrise, we are committed to delivering an integrated community of care based on industry best practices and protocols,” said Lori Miller, CIO of Grand Lake Health System. “Sunrise will help enable our care providers to deliver value-based care with access to data that can help drive continuous enhancements to our ability to provide the Grand Patient Experience.”

    Allscripts Sunrise is an integrated suite of solutions for emergency, acute, post-acute, ambulatory, and revenue cycle. Used by many of the leading hospitals and health systems in the world, Allscripts Sunrise is a highly configurable solution that offers clinician-specific workflows that help drive adoption of clinical decision support that can lead to improved outcomes.

    “The flexibility and robustness of Allscripts Sunrise will help empower Grand Lake Health System to better serve its patient population in a way that best fits its community,” said Senior Vice President of Field Sales Steve Holmquist. “Our partnership with Grand Lake Health System will help bring a more seamless and enhanced experience for the Grand Lake clinicians and patients to whom they provide service.”

    About Allscripts
    Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) is a leader in healthcare information technology solutions that advance clinical, financial and operational results. Our innovative solutions connect people, places and data across an Open, Connected Community of Health™. Connectivity empowers caregivers to make better decisions and deliver better care for healthier populations. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, YouTube and It Takes A Community: The Allscripts Blog.

    Posted 6.12.2015

  • Allscripts Announces First Quarter 2015 Results

    Bookings total $236 million, 6% year-over-year growth

    Recurring revenue increases to 77 from 73 % of total revenue year-over-year

    Cash flow from operations totals $59 million

    CHICAGO,IL –  May 7, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:MDRX) (Allscripts) announced its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

    First Quarter Bookings Highlights:
    Bookings(1) in the first quarter of 2015 were a record $236 million compared with $223 million in the first quarter of 2014, a 6 percent increase. First quarter 2015 bookings reflect sales growth of SunriseTM Acute Care as well as significant contributions from population health management and Allscripts payer life sciences solutions.

    Approximately 63 percent of first quarter bookings related to software delivery and recurring transactions, while the remaining 37 percent were derived from sales of client services solutions. This compares with 54 and 46 percent of bookings attributable to these revenue categories, respectively, in the first quarter of 2014.

    Contract revenue backlog as of March 31, 2015, totaled $3.5 billion, which was flat compared with the prior-year amount.

    Paul M. Black, President and Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts, stated: “We are pleased with first quarter bookings growth of 6 percent year-over-year. Sunrise bookings growth reflects both net new client sales and additional sales to existing clients, as they increase investments in the platform. Enhancements in Sunrise functionality, increasing client satisfaction and recent, positive industry recognition are driving growing interest in Allscripts globally.

    “While total revenue declined in the quarter, higher margin recurring revenue continues to grow year-over-year and constituted 77 percent of total revenue. We also maintained a disciplined focus on operating expenses, which helped drive a significant year-over-year increase in operating and free cash flows.” Mr. Black continued, “Looking ahead, Allscripts strategic position is solid. We are focused on continually enhancing core solutions, growing population health and international markets and offering new value-added services. Together, these opportunities provide a foundation for improving financial performance and value creation going forward.”

     

    First Quarter 2015 Highlights:
    Revenue totaled $335 million, a decline of 2 percent, compared with $340 million in the first quarter of 2014.

    Software delivery, support & maintenance revenue totaled $228 million in the first quarter of 2015, flat compared with the first quarter of 2014. Software delivery, support & maintenance revenue consists of all software, hardware, and transaction-related revenue as well as support & maintenance.

    Client services revenue totaled $107 million in the first quarter of 2015, down 5 percent compared with the first quarter of 2014. Client services revenue consists of both managed IT services as well as other client services.

    On a non-GAAP basis, recurring revenue, consisting of subscriptions, recurring transactions, support, maintenance, and recurring managed services, increased $7 million compared with the first quarter of 2014; representing growth of 3 percent year-over-year. Non-recurring revenue, consisting of systems sales and other client services revenue, declined $18 million or 19 percent, compared with the first quarter of 2014.

    First quarter 2015 gross margin was 42.3 percent on a non-GAAP basis and 38.8 percent on a GAAP basis, compared with 44.9 percent and 40.6 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of 2014.

    Operating expenses, consisting of SG&A and R&D expense, declined 12 percent on a non-GAAP basis and 9 percent on a GAAP basis in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the first quarter of 2014. The decline in operating expenses reflects initiatives to decrease corporate SG&A expenses, streamline business functions, and leverage investments in research and development. GAAP operating expenses in the first quarter of 2015 included severance expense of approximately $6 million.

    Reflecting lower operating expenses, Adjusted EBITDA increased 4 percent to $50 million in the first quarter of 2015, compared with $48 million in the first quarter of 2014.

    On a non-GAAP basis, Allscripts effective tax rate was 35 percent in the first quarter of both 2015 and 2014. On a GAAP basis, Allscripts recorded an income tax benefit of approximately $1.0 million in the first quarter of 2015, compared with an income tax provision of $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2014.

    First quarter 2015 non-GAAP net income totaled $15 million compared with $12 million in the first quarter of 2014. First quarter 2015 GAAP net loss totaled $10 million compared with a net loss of $21 million in the first quarter of 2014.

    First quarter 2015 non-GAAP earnings per share were $0.08 compared with $0.07 in the first quarter of 2014. First quarter 2015 GAAP loss per share was $0.06 compared with a loss per share of $0.12 in the first quarter of 2014.

    Allscripts first quarter 2015 cash flow from operations totaled $59 million compared with $21 million in the first quarter of 2014. Free cash flow totaled $43 million compared with $0.2 million in the first quarter of 2014.

    Allscripts is confirming its full year Adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share that the Company introduced earlier this year. The Company is modifying its full year revenue guidance to a range between $1.40B and $1.43B.

     

    About Allscripts
    Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) is a leader in healthcare information technology solutions that advance clinical, financial and operational results. Our innovative solutions connect people, places and data across an Open, Connected Community of Health™. Connectivity empowers caregivers to make better decisions and deliver better care for healthier populations. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, YouTube and It Takes A Community: The Allscripts Blog.

    Posted 6.12.2015

  • Nurses Agree EHRs Improve Patient Safety

    Industrywide Survey Finds Nurses Have Mixed Views on How the Technology Affects Collaboration and Efficiency

     

    CHICAGO,IL –  May 6, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In a survey conducted by HIMSS Analytics on behalf of Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX), the majority of respondents agreed that electronic health records (EHRs) help improve patient safety, make it easier to find comprehensive patient information and enhance collaboration with clinicians inside their organizations.

    The HIMSS Analytics Nursing Healthcare Satisfaction Study drew 626 respondents, all registered nurses who represent multiple EHR vendors, types of care settings and roles. Results include:

    • Nurses would not consider going back to paper-based medical records (71%)
    • Nurse respondents agree that EHR benefits are good for patient safety:
      • Improve patient safety and avoid medication errors (72%)
      • Enable collaboration with other clinicians inside their organizations (73%)
    • However, respondents were less likely to agree that EHRs help efficiency:
      • Enable collaboration with clinicians outside their organizations (49%)
      • Eliminate duplicate work (43%)
      • Give nurses more time with patients (33%)

    “This study is helpful for anyone who wants to better understand how healthcare IT affects nurses, from their point of view,” said Brendan FitzGerald, Research Director at HIMSS Analytics. “Results show that nurses have the highest levels of satisfaction around how EHRs improve the quality of clinical decisions. But there are also findings that indicate EHR vendors could do more to improve nursing workflows.”

    “Allscripts applauds the work that nurses do every day to take care of patients,” Allscripts Chief Executive Officer Paul M. Black said. “Their caring, concern and passionate advice helps shape our vision for the future of health care. This survey has some clear messages about where we, as an industry, can do more to help nurses deliver the best possible care across the many venues that they practice in today.”

    For detailed results from the survey, view this infographic or download a free white paper.

    About Allscripts
    Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) is a leader in healthcare information technology solutions that advance clinical, financial and operational results. Our innovative solutions connect people, places and data across an Open, Connected Community of Health™. Connectivity empowers caregivers to make better decisions and deliver better care for healthier populations. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, YouTube and It Takes A Community: The Allscripts Blog.

    Posted 6.12.2015

  • Alignment Healthcare Activates Allscripts Ambulatory Solutions

    Modular solution enables rapid deployment of Allscripts TouchWorks® EHR & Allscripts Practice Management™ software

     

    CHICAGO, IL – May 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) client Alignment Healthcare rapidly deployed Allscripts TouchWorks EHR and Allscripts Practice Management software in 52 days. Allscripts will host and maintain the software and will provide Managed IT Services for Alignment Healthcare.

    Alignment Healthcare, based in Orange, Calif., partners with providers, health plans and hospitals to create a seamless, fast and easy-to-navigate healthcare experience. Alignment Healthcare selected Allscripts as a strategic partner to help achieve its goal of better patient outcomes. Following the rapid implementation, the solutions are being hosted from Allscripts new data center, which includes 24×7 client support and application monitoring. This full package will enable ongoing service optimization and help position Alignment Healthcare for ongoing expansion.

    Alignment Healthcare chose to have Allscripts host the software and manage its IT services to enable the healthcare system to focus on its strategic goal of delivering better patient care. Allscripts provided a package of modular, cost-effective services using best practices across Allscripts clients and more than 1,400 services professionals. This modularity enabled Allscripts to go live with a tested, bundled solution for Alignment Healthcare in only 52 days, rather than the several months standard to the industry.

    “Alignment Healthcare sought more than an EHR vendor; we needed a partner who could support our vision to positively transform health care,” said John Kao, CEO and President, Alignment Healthcare. “Allscripts leveraged its global team to bring us live in months, if not years, faster than its competitors. And with modular services, Allscripts has the agility to evolve our services as we move forward together.”

    “Alignment Healthcare needed a partner who could give them a customizable and scalable solution. Our modular package took the best experiences of clients across our business and leveraged them to accelerate this implementation. We’ve helped build a foundation for Alignment Healthcare’s growth in a changing healthcare environment, and look forward to helping them achieve their goals for transforming population health,” said Greg White, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Allscripts TouchWorks Business Unit.

    With multi-site, multi-specialty support and optimal configurability, Allscripts TouchWorks EHR is a tool that can help physician practices, clinics and academic medical centers improve quality of care, reduce costs and generate additional revenue across a community. Tens of thousands of providers use Allscripts TouchWorks EHR to exceed their population health management goals. Advanced clinical information systems enable organization to meet industry needs, both today and in the future.

    Allscripts Practice Management can help physician practices of all sizes overcome rising costs, shrinking reimbursements and ever-changing regulations to improve every step of the revenue cycle. Allscripts Practice Management software is a solution with a comprehensive, rules-based engine that automates tasks, streamlines workflow and can improve cash flow.

    About Allscripts
    Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) is a leader in healthcare information technology solutions that advance clinical, financial and operational results. Our innovative solutions connect people, places and data across an Open, Connected Community of Health™. Connectivity empowers caregivers to make better decisions and deliver better care for healthier populations. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, YouTube and It Takes A Community: The Allscripts Blog.

    Posted 6.12.2015

  • CareMore Nevada Selects Allscripts for Chronic Care Management (CCM) Program

    Solution enables the improvement of preventative maintenance & long-term care planning for patients with chronic conditions

     

    CHICAGO, IL –  May 5, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CareMore Medical Group of Nevada (CareMore) in Las Vegas, NV, selected Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) Chronic Care Management (CCM) program to assist in rapidly improving patient engagement and quality of care while increasing Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursements.

    CareMore is an existing Allscripts Professional EHR™ client using Allscripts hosted solutions which wanted to supplement existing resources with a turnkey CCM solution to improve patient outcomes while limiting impact on existing workflows and operations. With Value-based Care Services from Allscripts Professional Physicians Business, the Allscripts CCM program can offer the flexibility of a fully scalable program.

    With a well-established Medicare patient base, the practice also wanted to increase fee-for-service and reimbursement revenue within their existing patient volume. CareMore selected the Allscripts CCM program to enable the practice to leverage annual wellness visits and initial preventative physical exams for long-term health maintenance.

    “CareMore’s model of care includes developing innovative programs that successfully address the needs of older adults and other populations. We strive to give them only the best of care,” said Raynette Howard, General Manager of Practice Management, CareMore. “Allscripts CCM can enable us to address the growing complexity of caring for chronic patients by offering rapid patient engagement and quality-of-care improvements geared towards driving additional CMS reimbursement revenue generation with minimal risk.”

    “Allscripts helps practices overcome the challenges of developing a strong CCM program, which practices can use in their efforts to quickly drive additional reimbursement revenue generation, and provide scalability for the future,” said Steve Lalonde, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Professional Physicians Business, Allscripts. “In addition, improving preventative maintenance and long-term care planning for patients with chronic conditions benefits both the practice and the patients who can see resulting quality-of-life improvements.”

    About Allscripts
    Allscripts (Nasdaq:MDRX) is a leader in healthcare information technology solutions that advance clinical, financial and operational results. Our innovative solutions connect people, places and data across an Open, Connected Community of Health™. Connectivity empowers caregivers to make better decisions and deliver better care for healthier populations. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, YouTube and It Takes A Community: The Allscripts Blog.

    Posted 6.12.2015

  • Impact Advisors Named to CRN Solution Provider 500

    List ranks North America’s largest 500 technology integrators

    Chicago, IL  – June 10, 2015 — Impact Advisors, LLC, an award-winning healthcare information technology consulting firm, was named to The Channel Company’s 2015 CRN® Solution Provider 500. The annual list, spanning eight categories from hardware and software sales to managed IT services, recognizes the top revenue-generating technology integrators, MSPs and IT consultants in North America. Solution providers are ranked based on revenue, determined by product and services sales during 2014.

    “We are honored to be included in the CRN® Solution Provider 500 list,” said Peter Smith, CEO, Impact Advisors. “Solving our clients’ toughest healthcare IT challenges is our top priority and our firm is proud to offer a broad range of services that spans the lifecycle of our clients’ needs which enables us to leave our clients stronger than we found them.”

    “The companies represented here are truly dedicated to the needs of customers today. With an evolving IT landscape, this prestigious list serves as a valuable industry resource to help vendors navigate the solution provider community and identify the best partners for their business,” said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. “We congratulate the featured solution providers for their forward-thinking approach to solutions sales and look ahead to their continued success.”

    The complete 2015 Solution Provider 500 list will be featured in the June issue of CRN, and online at www.CRN.com.

    Impact Advisors adds this latest honor to a growing list of awards that includes being named Best in KLAS for seven consecutive years, Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work in Healthcare, Inc. 5000’s Fastest Growing Companies for three consecutive years and named a top 100 healthcare IT vendor by Healthcare Informatics. In addition, Chief Operating Officer, Todd Hollowell received honors as one of Consulting Magazine’s Top 25 Consultants of 2015.

    About Impact Advisors
    Impact Advisors, a distinguished healthcare information technology consulting firm, improves its clients’ healthcare delivery through technology. As a trusted healthcare leader, the firm helps hospitals and health systems maximize clinical and operational performance with its Best in KLAS® strategic advisory, implementation and optimization services. Since its inception, Impact Advisors has consulted to more than 140 hospitals and health systems nationally and internationally. The firm has earned a number of industry and workplace quality awards including Best in KLAS® for seven consecutive years, Healthcare Informatics HCI 100, Crain’s Chicago Business Fast Fifty and Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work.  For more information about Impact Advisors, visit www.impact-advisors.com.

    Posted 6.11.2015

  • CynergisTek Executives Selected to Present at Several Healthcare IT Events This Summer

    CynergisTek CEO & Cyber Security Expert, Mac McMillan, to return as keynote speaker for

    CHIME’s Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security educational program

    Austin, TX – June 9, 2015 — CynergisTek™, an authority in health information privacy, security and compliance, today announced that its CEO, Mac McMillan, and its Vice President of Compliance, David Holtzman, have been selected as expert speakers at several educational events this summer. The company also announced that for the second year in a row McMillan will keynote the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) series, “Health Information Executives Guide to Cyber Security,” to support the newly formed Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security (AEHIS).

    Presentations will explore a wide range of challenges healthcare organizations face today with respect to privacy and security, including cyberattacks, audits and data breaches, among others. McMillan, with his 30 plus years of experience serving in both government and private sector positions, and Holtzman with his tenure as a senior advisor with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), will provide attendees with valuable insights and proven strategies to mitigate their organization’s risk and ensure the integrity of information assets.

    Scheduled presentations include:

    • North Carolina Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), “Best Practices for Protecting Your Organization
      from Cyberattacks,” (breakout session featuring Mac McMillan and Chuck Kesler, CISO, Duke Medicine), Wilmington, NC
      Tuesday, June 9, 2015 at 8:30 am EDT
    • National Academic Medical Center Security & Privacy Conference, “Meaningful Use Security and Privacy Measures: Risk
      Assessment, Mitigation and Audit Preparedness,” (panel featuring David Holtzman), Chapel Hill, NC Monday, June 22,
      2015 at 2:45 pm EDT
    • Bloomberg BNA Cybersecurity & Health Data Privacy Live Conference, (panel featuring David Holtzman), Washington, DC
      Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at 9:00 am EDT
    • HIMSS Privacy and Security Forum, “Best Practices with the Privacy and Security Genius Bar,” (panel featuring David
      Holtzman), Chicago, IL Wednesday, July 1, 2015 at 12:00 pm EDT
    • CHIME Leadership Education and Development Forum, “What is Cyber Security and Why is it Crucial to Your Organization?”
      ( keynote address by Mac McMillan):
      – Denver, CO Monday, July 20, 2015 at 11:15 am EDT
      – Seattle, WA Monday, August 17, 2015 at 12:15 pm EDT
      – Atlanta, GA, Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 9:15 am EDT

    “The growing prevalence of sophisticated cyberattacks and costly data breaches in healthcare is creating a sense of urgency for organizations – providers and insurers alike – to take a close look at their security infrastructure and practices,” said McMillan. “At CynergisTek, we have always been committed to educational initiatives that support the industry at large, and the timing for these presentations is critical. We’re looking forward to sharing our expertise and to providing the knowledge these organizations need to protect themselves in today’s environment and beyond.”

    About CynergisTek
    CynergisTek is a top-ranked information privacy and security consulting firm. The company offers solutions to help organizations measure privacy and security programs against regulatory requirements and assists in developing risk management best practices. Since 2003 the company has served as a partner to hundreds in the healthcare industry. CynergisTek is also dedicated to supporting and educating the industry by contributing to relevant associations such as HIMSS, AHIMA, HFMA, HCCA, AHIA, AHLA, IAPP and CHIME. CynergisTek was recognized by KLAS®, as one of three firms provider organizations turn to most for privacy and security assistance in its groundbreaking report released in May 2014, entitled “Security and Privacy Perception 2014: High Stakes, Big Challenges.” For more information visit www.cynergistek.com, call 512.402.8550 or email [email protected].

    Media Contact:
    Chanel Benoit
    Senior Account Executive
    Aria Marketing
    617.332.9999 x 209
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.10.2015

  • eHealth Technologies & Orion Health Announce Partnership

    Partnership enables North Dakota Health Information Network access to medical images, providing a comprehensive view of the patient record

    Rochester, NY – June 9, 2015 — eHealth Technologies, the leading provider of image exchange solutions and Orion Health, a global population health management and healthcare integration company, announced today that they have partnered to enable North Dakota Health Information Network (NDHIN) to provide healthcare providers across the entire state of North Dakota with access to medical images as a part of the state-wide Health Information Exchange (HIE).

    eHealth Technologies and Orion Health have signed a strategic partnership agreement that incorporates eHealth Connect® Image Exchange into the Orion Health Open Platform, enabling its users to access, view, compare and transfer fully diagnostic quality medical images such as x-ray, Computed Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Ultrasound studies from anywhere they can access the Orion Health platform. Both companies are committed to delivering the critical and relevant health information needed by providers to care for patients when, where and how they need it.

    “The partnership between eHealth Technologies and Orion Health will ensure that providers using NDHIN can access and share diagnostic quality medical images through our Open Platform. This partnership will help us positively affect patients’ health by minimizing radiation exposure from unnecessary duplicate imaging exams, while also reducing the cost of care,” said BG Jones, Vice President, Global Partner Alliances, Orion Health.

    Gary Larson, Executive Vice President & General Manager, HIE Solutions for eHealth Technologies noted “Our partnership with Orion Health will allow healthcare providers to access their patients’ images from any external connected facility in full diagnostic quality, on a unified image viewing platform with no software to install, in the context of the complete patient record. Physicians will be able to securely collaborate to make care coordination across multiple facilities more efficient and effective.”

    Mr. Sheldon Wolf, Health Information Technology Director, NDHIN also expressed excitement about the physician collaboration that is now possible with an image enabled HIE: “Image-enabling NDHIN will equip our providers with the tools they need to conduct real-time image consultations with other caregivers for a faster and more complete diagnosis and treatment. Being able to quickly connect providers with the information they need in sparsely populated areas will greatly enhance patient care.”

    About Orion Health Inc.
    Orion Health, a population health management company, makes healthcare information available anywhere by providing healthcare IT connectivity in nearly every US state and in over 30 countries worldwide—facilitating care for tens of millions of patients every day. With an inherent ability to interconnect a wide variety of healthcare information systems, Orion Health facilitates data exchange within and among provider organizations, accountable care organizations, health plans, governments and health information exchanges, to improve care coordination, enable population health management, enhance quality of care and help reduce costs. For more information, visit www.orionhealth.com. Connect with them on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

    About eHealth Technologies™
    eHealth Technologies is the industry-leading provider of continuity of care solutions, serving over half of the nation’s top 100 hospitals, including 12 of the top 17 U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll Hospitals for 2014-2015, and leading health information exchanges (HIEs) across the United States. The company’s eHealth Connect® Referral Pathways solution enhances patient and physician satisfaction by streamlining transitions of care, and assuring physicians have the right healthcare information to care for their patients, right when they need it. As a critical adjunct to HIEs, eHealth Connect® Image Exchange enables the automated access to all types of medical images in the context of the aggregated patient record, in full diagnostic quality, and supports the ability for providers to meet Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements. For more information, visit www.eHealthTechnologies.com. Connect with them on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

    About North Dakota Health Information Exchange Network
    The mission of the NDHIN is to advance the adoption and use of technology to exchange health information and improve healthcare quality, patient safety and overall efficiency of healthcare and public health services of North Dakota. The North Dakota Health Information Network creates a safe, secure connection for life’s critical moments. For more information, visit www.ndhin.org.

    Posted 6.10.2015

  • Patient ID Highlighted as Barrier to Interoperability during Senate HELP Hearing

    ANN ARBOR, MI, June 10, 2015 – In a hearing convened by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) today, witnesses outlined opportunities to improve health information exchange, citing the absence of a nationally-recognized identifier as an ongoing challenge to matching patients to their healthcare data.

    Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) cited a 2012 CHIME study of 128 healthcare CIOs and other senior healthcare leaders in which nearly one-fifth indicated that their hospital had experienced an adverse event during the course of the year due to a patient information mismatch.  The Senator spoke to the dangers of patient mismatches and called on witnesses to articulate what Congress and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) can do to solve this patient safety issue.

    CHIME member Craig D. Richardville, MBA, FACHE, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Carolinas HealthCare System, was among the witnesses that pointed to the need for a consistent method by which to identify patients.  Richardville described the palm scans done within his system, resulting in a 99 percent match rate, but emphasized that the near-perfect match rate is only within his systems.

    “This is one of the most public and noteworthy conversations that has taken place on the issue of patient identification,” said CHIME Interim Vice President of Public Policy Leslie Krigstein. “It’s time that Congress recognize the inability to accurately identify patients is fundamentally a patient safety issue.”

    The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has long been an advocate for the accurate, efficient matching of patients with their healthcare data to radically reduce medical errors and save lives. In an effort to find a universal solution for accurately matching patients with their healthcare information, CHIME announced in March that will launch a $1 million challenge later this summer on the HeroX platform.

    The hearing, entitled “Health Information Exchange: A Path Towards Improving the Quality and Value of Health Care for Patients,” featured a panel of industry stakeholders gathered to evaluate solutions for improving interoperability.  The hearing is one of several being held by the committee to evaluate electronic health records (EHRs) and the promise of health IT.

    In addition to Richardville, witnesses included Christine Bechtel, Advisor to the National Partnership for Women & Families and Chair of the Health IT Policy Committee Consumer Workgroup; Neal Patterson, CEO of Cerner; and Thomas H. Payne, M.D., Chair-Elect of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and Medical Director of IT Services at UW Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine.

    Despite the nation’s progress with HIT implementation and adoption, Richardville testified that the current health IT ecosystem continues to be a challenge for providers due to lack of interoperability between EHR systems.

    “Cost-effective, efficient, and easy to use and integrate health information is foundational to advancing and providing excellent care in this country,” he said.  “Patients and care providers are missing opportunities to improve people’s health and welfare when information is not easily available.”

    Richardville outlined several factors for creating a pathway to achieving interoperability including a functional set of standards, data transparency and government-led collaboration among providers, patients, vendors and payers.

    “We need clear rules of the road for providers and vendors alike through establishment of functional data and transport standards, methods to measure and test functionalities, with enhanced enforcement tools for regulatory bodies to drive compliance in the marketplace,” Richardville told the committee.

    CHIME commends the committee for their ongoing efforts to identify resolute policy actions that can facilitate better patient care through the use of health IT systems.

    About CHIME:
    The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,500 CIO members and over 140 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve.

    Contact
    Stephanie Fraser
    Director of Communications
    734.665.0000
    [email protected]

    Posted 6.10.2015
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