Ness County Hospital Implements Prognosis HIS EHR in Just Four Months

HOUSTON, June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ness County Hospital recently began using the ChartAccess® Comprehensive EHR, just four months after the critical access hospital selected the Prognosis Health Information Systems solution.

"The Ness go-live raises the bar by setting a new standard for EHR implementation efficiency," said Ramsey Evans, CEO of Prognosis HIS. "Hospitals need solutions that help them safely and efficiently serve their patients, and they need it now – in order to qualify for the federal government's meaningful use incentive funds. Getting an EHR up and running in just four months is an accomplishment we're very proud of."

The Prognosis solution is certainly helping Ness get on the fast track.

"We did our homework – and a cross disciplinary team put a lot of time and effort into selecting the right system," said Curt Thomas, interim CEO of the 20-bed Ness City, Kansas-based hospital.

The quick start can be attributed to the fact that the Prognosis EHR is delivered via a "cloud computing" model, where applications are easily accessible over the Internet.  As a result, lengthy system configurations and implementations can be averted as users simply access the shared web-native system by using a standard operating system and a browser.

In addition, an on-site Prognosis team taught Ness clinicians and other staff members how to use the system in just two weeks. The solution's user-friendly capabilities and mobile functionality enabled users to quickly adopt the system. With an interface that mimics commonly used e-mail applications -- as well as iPhone and iPad applications that make it possible to view patient rounding lists, process orders and access results at the point of care -- users routinely leverage the system to enhance mobile workflow.

The hospital is planning to utilize the EHR to rapidly fulfill the federal government's requirements as stipulated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). A "meaningful use" dashboard makes it possible to continually monitor where the hospital stands in relation to meeting the specific requirements of the government's $27 billion incentive program. Ness plans to meet the Stage 1 meaningful use requirements by the end of this year.

"We started our documentation of the meaningful use requirements on June 1 and one of our staff members monitors the dashboard daily. We issue communications to staff members on a weekly basis so that we can quickly move toward meeting the specified government requirements," says Brenda Dingess, R.N., director of nursing.

About Prognosis Health Information Systems

Prognosis Health Information Systems, Inc. (PHIS), Houston, aims to improve the quality and safety of patient care through ChartAccess, a certified Comprehensive EHR. Designed to be fully operational in less than six months at a predictable, affordable cost, the solution enables hospitals to meet meaningful use and improve patient outcomes by leveraging built-in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) milestone and quality measure tracking functionality. PHIS uses 21st-Century technologies to offer small community hospitals a pure browser-based system that can run on-premise or in the cloud. For more information, go to www.prognosishis.com.

SOURCE Prognosis Health Information Systems, Inc.