FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
CPR for Informatics Corporation of America
Melody Barbosa; 201.641.1911 x52; mbarbosa@cpronline.com
Health Information Exchange of Montana and Northwest Healthcare Select ICA to Implement Integrated Technology Solution
Rural hospitals, clinics, home health facilities in western Montana to have community-based electronic health record
NASHVILLE, TN/KALISPELL, MT – May 14, 2008 -- Informatics Corporation of America (ICA; www.icainformatics.com), providing clinicians with a single technology solution for accessing, evaluating and acting upon patient information across disparate systems, today announced that its A3Align SolutionTM has been selected by the Health Information Exchange of Montana (HIEM) and Northwest Healthcare to consolidate patient data from different treatment settings into a single-source solution to meet both enterprise and community needs. The HIEM is comprised of six hospitals and 25 clinics, including the Northwest Healthcare system, covering 45,000 square miles in western Montana.
“We selected ICA’s A3Align SolutionTM for its ability to build upon existing clinical systems, giving our clinicians access to a patient’s longitudinal record,” said John Maher, a founding board member and chairman of the HIEM. “By providing seamless access to clinical data, we expect to see a reduction in costs resulting from improved service and the elimination of manual patient data transmissions. Within six months, we anticipate having a single point of access for all clinical information, with significant improvements in patient and physician satisfaction levels.”
In the initial phase of the agreement, ICA will aggregate patient information from disparate systems into a single, web-based solution. A representative set of source systems includes Meditech, Iatric Systems, SoftMed, MIDAS+, ImageNow, eClinicalWorks, ChartBuilder, and FileMaker.
“ICA clearly has the capabilities to take us beyond aggregation,” continued Maher. “Where gaps in current systems exist, they provide tools that allow for data capture and enable efficient communication across the various facilities in our region. We also plan to incorporate ICA’s wellness and disease dashboards into our community-wide EHR, facilitating proactive management of key disease states such as diabetes and CHF. Collectively, these advancements will help to ensure quality care throughout western Montana, where healthcare resources are widely dispersed.”
Developed over the course of 15 years by practicing physicians and informatics professionals at Vanderbilt Medical Center, ICA’s A3Align SolutionTM is based upon technology that aligns with a physician’s clinical workflow. This technology has been deployed in the Mid-South eHealth Alliance, a successful health information exchange in western Tennessee that has been operational across nine organizations and over 40 facilities since the summer of 2006. An enterprise implementation has been live since January 2007 at Bassett Healthcare’s four hospitals and 27 clinics in Cooperstown, NY.
According to Gary Zegiestowsky, CEO of ICA, “We are pleased to be chosen for this important initiative which showcases the flexibility of our technology as both an enterprise and an HIE solution. ICA’s phased approach optimizes time to value, makes physicians’ lives easier, and provides a foundation for community-based care.”
He emphasizes that decision-makers can turn to ICA for demonstrable results, adding, “By giving physicians the information they need when they need it, our technology helps healthcare enterprises reduce costs, improve the quality of care, and boost physician retention.”
About the Health Information Exchange of Montana (HIEM)
The HIEM includes Glacier Community Health Center and Northern Rockies Medical Center in Cut Bank; Libby Clinic, Lincoln County Community Health Center, and St. John’s Lutheran Hospital in Libby; St. Luke’s Community Hospital in Ronan; North Valley Hospital in Whitefish, and Northwest Healthcare’s Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell, as well as 25 clinics across the region.
About Informatics Corporation of America (ICA)
Informatics Corporation of America (ICA) was created with nationally renowned Vanderbilt Medical Center to take innovative technology developed by Vanderbilt physicians to the broader healthcare market. ICA builds on existing IT systems to offer a single technology solution for accessing, evaluating and acting upon patient information across all treatment settings. Visit www.icainformatics.com
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