PORTLAND, Ore., April 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- OCHIN, a national leader in health information technology products and services and parent of Oregon's Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (O-HITEC), has entered into an agreement with Gateway EDI, a leading healthcare solutions provider of electronic data interchange services to help OCHIN/O-HITEC members save time and money. "Gateway EDI offered us a better package for our members, saving them an average of 25 percent over other clearinghouses," said, Phil Skiba, vice president of business services. "Our goal is to help our providers achieve efficiencies and reduce costs and Gateway EDI provided us with a great clearinghouse solution," said Skiba.

"Gateway EDI's fully integrated claims management solution will enable OCHIN providers to save time and money by reducing payer errors and improving payment turnaround time," said Charlotte Martin, president and chief operating officer at Gateway EDI. "Our team has extensive experience supporting the unique business requirements of community health centers.  Our customized, flexible reporting tools have helped many Federally Qualified Health Center clients lower costs and improve the effectiveness of their billing operations," said Martin.

Funded through a federal ARRA grant, OCHIN/O-HITEC has developed a suite of free and low-cost services to help Oregon's primary care providers in small practices meet the federal government's meaningful use requirements. "We couldn't be happier with the Gateway EDI agreement – this will really help our providers effectively manage claims, improve overall reporting and collect reimbursements faster," said Skiba.

About OCHIN:

OCHIN is a national non-profit collaborative headquartered in Portland, Oregon that provides integrated HIT software products and services to community health clinics, mental health services and small practices serving the medically underserved. In 2010 OCHIN won a competitive federal grant to start Oregon's Health Information Technology Extension Center (O-HITEC) a division of OCHIN that provides education, outreach, and assistance to facilitate successful implementation, and meaningful use of certified electronic health records. OCHIN/O-HITEC strives to transform healthcare, improve quality and deliver value through effective use of information technology. For more information please visit www.ochin.org and www.o-hitec.org

About Gateway EDI:

Healthcare providers trust Gateway EDI's complete support system of people and tools to maximize their revenue and increase cash flow. Based in St. Louis, Mo., Gateway EDI was founded almost 30 years ago by a physician who was unsatisfied with the claims processing tools available at the time and created new solutions focused on better managing the revenue cycle for medical practices. Today, more than 75,000 physicians continue to count on Gateway EDI's fully-integrated suite of advanced tools and proactive service team to monitor, catch and fix claims issues before they can impact a practice. For more information, visit http://www.gatewayedi.com/.

Contacts:
Michelle Llewellyn
Marketing Director
Gateway EDI
800.969.3666
mllewellyn@GatewayEDI.com
Ruby Haughton-Pitts
Communications Director
OCHIN, Inc.
503.784.2284
haughtonpittsr@ochin.org

SOURCE OCHIN