iKnowMed™ Score Increases in KLAS Report

THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Nov. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- iKnowMed Electronic Health Record System (EHR), the highest-ranked web-based oncology-specific EHR by Black Book Rankings and a product of McKesson Specialty Health Solutions for Oncology, was included in the new KLAS report Oncology IS 2011: Integrating the Island. KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting on the performance of healthcare vendors. In the report, iKnowMed scored an 85 overall performance score, more than three points higher than it scored in The Oncology IT Balancing Act: Integration vs. Functionality published by KLAS in 2010; due to a small open market customer sample size, the EHR's KLAS rank could not be included in the report(1).

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"Although not fully ranked, iKnowMed scored an impressive 85 overall on the KLAS scale," said Monique Rasband, author of the KLAS report. "Since 2010, this product has really made its mark on the industry by more than doubling the number of practices in the open market. Plus, providers are all abuzz about what iKnowMed may be able to offer in the future, especially because of the recent initial rollout of this product's tight integration with Lynx Mobile, McKesson Specialty Health's leading drug inventory management system. This could make newcomer McKesson Specialty Health (published under US Oncology in the 2011 KLAS report) a formidable competitor in the oncology IT space."

Compared to the 2010 KLAS report, iKnowMed scores either increased or maintained status quo across 19 of the 25 categories. Results for the Sales & Contracting, Ease of Use and Implementation & Training, among other categories, increased across the board when compared to 2010 results.

"iKnowMed's nimbleness combined with a web-based platform makes it less expensive, easier to use, and allows them to execute quick upgrades," said Rasband. "These aspects of the product have made iKnowMed more attractive to providers."

"We're excited to see the continued increase in customer satisfaction of iKnowMed," said Asif Ahmad, senior vice president, Information and Technology Services, McKesson Specialty Health. "We've dedicated a lot of time and resources to upgrades and recent rollouts. We're pleased to know that our customers are happy with the changes. We remain committed to making iKnowMed EHR the best, most innovative product in community oncology practices today."

iKnowMed is a web-based oncology-specific EHR that has achieved Complete Certification for Stage 1 Meaningful Use. Clinical content includes point-of-care decision support with detailed cancer diagnosis and staging content, and a cancer regimen library of more than 400 protocols. iKnowMed EHR supports clinical trial accruals for new and existing patients, provides access to evidence-based pathways, has integrated ePrescribing capabilities, a charge interface, and has been proven to improve gross charge capture ranging from $35,000 to $86,000 per oncologist.

Product History/Development

Founded in 1998 by a physician-led Product Development Committee as an oncology-specific application focused on the community cancer center setting, iKnowMed was acquired by US Oncology in 2004. McKesson purchased US Oncology in December 2010 and launched McKesson Specialty Health in September 2011. iKnowMed continues to be driven and influenced by practicing oncologists. The overall health information exchange strategy is to move from a data-centric environment to an information environment that harnesses existing interoperability resources such as a patient portal and other McKesson technologies that are in alignment with Meaningful Use certification standards. Strong decision support and interoperability remains a focus to help physicians deliver quality cancer care.

To learn more about iKnowMed EHR, call (800) 482-6700, option 4 or email your questions to [email protected]. For the full KLAS report Oncology IS 2011: Integrating the Island, email [email protected], or call 1-800-920-4109. For a custom report comparing any of the vendors specifically to iKnowMed, contact Heather Dixen, McKesson Specialty Health, at 281-863-6457 or via email at [email protected].

Quotes on iKnowMed found in the KLAS report

"We are an oncology specialty practice, so that is all we do. We feel like the iKnowMed team has been helpful in getting us ready for meaningful use."

"We have added new sites from our organization to iKnowMed, so we have all been live at different times. The implementations and rollouts from [McKesson Specialty Health] are well organized, well executed, and handled in a seamless fashion. The implementations are clean, and the implementation people know what they are doing."

"We came from a paper environment, so when I recommend iKnowMed, I can say we really had to learn all the ropes and completely adapt to a new system. I am not saying it was easy; however, we talked to our physicians and staff before we rolled iKnowMed out, and we started to get everyone on board and excited. We have a very high level of adoption, and the physicians and staff are happy and feel the system helps them in their work and improves patient care. We can see everything at all times no matter our physical location."

"We really like the training and feel that [McKesson Specialty Health] does a good job of keeping us up-to-date and trained. They have super-users onsite whom they work with on a very regular basis so that we have people here who have the knowledge and experience to answer questions and solve problems. The super-users are also great for training new employees and physicians because they know how to use the system and they also understand where new users will struggle and have questions. Having the super-users also allows us to hold our physicians' hands a little bit, which has helped our level of adoption."

"We get pretty good phone support from the iKnowMed people, and I feel they are well trained and understand the program and the field of oncology. It is rare that we have trouble with support, and we feel they are a partner with us and offer good support. We are not a US Oncology [Network affiliated] physician site, we are an independent group, and we don't feel like we get poorer service because we are not part of their network. We have been very pleased and feel like they are one of our best vendors from a service standpoint."

"We really like the financial counselor portion of iKnowMed. It has been out for a few years now, but we are still excited about it. I don't know if others do this, but it is excellent for catching drugs from the pharmacy and putting them in our notify queue to keep everyone up to date and keep track of who owes what."

"I like the fact that the updates and upgrades are rolled out via web. There is no downtime and no guessing about what will happen. The process is seamless and makes it easy to keep up on new software."

About McKesson Specialty Health

McKesson Specialty Health, a division of McKesson Corporation, empowers the community patient care delivery system to advance the science, technology and quality of care. Through innovative clinical, research, business and operational solutions facilitated by integrated technology systems, we improve the financial health of our customers and help them provide quality care for patients. For more information, visit www.mckessonspecialtyhealth.com.

About McKesson

McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit www.mckesson.com.

About KLAS

KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting on the performance of healthcare vendors. KLAS' mission is to improve delivery by independently measuring vendor performance for the benefit of our healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors, and vendors. Working together with executives from more than 4500 hospitals and more than 2500 clinics, KLAS delivers timely reports, trends, and statistics that provide a solid overview of vendor performance in the industry. KLAS measures performance of software, professional services, medical equipment, and infrastructure vendors. For more information, go to www.KLASresearch.com, email [email protected], or call 1-800-920-4109 to speak with a KLAS representative. Follow KLAS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KLASresearch.

(1) iKnowMed data is based on a survey of providers from 7 practices. This sample size does not meet the minimum KLAS Konfidence level and therefore iKnowMed could not be ranked in the report.

SOURCE McKesson Specialty Health