St. Charles Health System Selects Allscripts Electronic Health Record and Practice Management for Employed and Affiliated Physicians

CHICAGO and BEND, Ore., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The St. Charles Health System, a private not-for-profit corporation that operates four hospitals with an active medical staff of 350 physicians, has selected Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) as the provider of Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Practice Management (PM) solutions for the health system's employed and affiliated physicians.  

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The selection of Allscripts is a key component of St. Charles Health System's creation of a clinically integrated health information system that will support the practice of evidence-based medicine and streamline patient care.

"This ground-breaking model has already been singled out at the national level based on our creative programs, outstanding quality outcomes and community outreach," said James A. Diegel, FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Charles Health System. "Our agreement with Allscripts represents significant progress toward the creation of an integrated delivery system, and ultimately, toward helping to achieve our goals of improving the patient experience, reducing per capita cost and improving the overall health of the population.  At the end of the day, this work is truly about improving the health of our friends, family and neighbors."

Allscripts Chief Executive Officer Glen Tullman commented, "St. Charles Health System has demonstrated visionary leadership among Northwest healthcare organizations by committing to provide its employed and affiliated physicians with both the connectivity and the information that will be required to support high-quality care while at the same time removing the duplication and waste that inevitably lead to higher costs. We're proud to be partnered with St. Charles in their efforts to create a connected community of health, something we believe is fundamental to keeping communities healthier in the future."  

Integrated EHR and PM Includes Clinical Decision Support, Pay-for-Quality Reporting

St. Charles Health System will provide the Allscripts integrated Electronic Health Record and Practice Management solution to the physician members of the St. Charles Medical Group.  The group consists of physicians employed by the health system as well as affiliated physicians who will receive the Allscripts system via a St. Charles-operated medical service organization.

The Allscripts Electronic Health Record and Practice Management solution is an easy-to-deploy, physician-centric solution that improves the delivery of safe, cost-effective, high-quality care.  The Electronic Health Record provides caregivers instant and secure access to the complete patient record anytime and anywhere, while automating everyday clinical tasks and connecting physicians to pharmacies, laboratories and other healthcare stakeholders. The Practice Management solution improves the productivity of administrative staff, simplifies patient record keeping, streamlines billing and improves cash flow, with the industry's most user-friendly interface and extensible design.

As part of the Allscripts deployment, St. Charles Medical Group physicians will receive the Allscripts Clinical Quality Solution (CQS), which draws data from the Electronic Health Record to automate the quality reporting requirements of most government and payer-funded "pay-for-performance" programs.  CQS also delivers real-time clinical decision support information to physicians at the point of care, which promotes high quality patient care.

St. Charles Underwrites EHR-PM Offering for Affiliated Physicians to Help Achieve "Meaningful Use"

To meet the unique needs of physicians in smaller practices, Allscripts provides an integrated Electronic Health Record and Practice Management solution that is available via either SaaS (Software as a Service) or traditional on-premise delivery, giving physicians a choice of what works best for them. The SaaS option is designed to help smaller physician practices overcome cost and IT complexity barriers.  

For independent physicians with referring privileges to St. Charles Health System facilities, the health system will underwrite a portion of the Allscripts solution's monthly cost, which will cover full implementation of the technology, upgrades and initial training, and a fee to receive services through the Oregon Community Health Information Network's (OCHIN) Regional Extension Center.

"St. Charles wants to help physician practices acquire and implement EHR systems and achieve 'meaningful use' so that they may take advantage of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funding," said Bill Winnenberg, St. Charles Health System Chief Information Officer. Starting in 2011, the Act provides between $44,000 and $64,000 to physicians who adopt and demonstrate meaningful use of an EHR.

Health Information Exchange Bolsters Physician-Hospital Connectivity

To improve the quality and continuity of health data, and enable more efficient coordination of care, St. Charles will also provide a health information exchange (HIE). This will allow the hospital and physicians to securely exchange health information, including test results and other clinical information from the Electronic Health Record. It will also allow patients and physicians (and their staffs) to connect electronically, perform electronic prescribing, assist with chronic care management, automate administrative functions and more.

Importantly, the HIE will also allow for the aggregation and analysis of data, which will be a boon to clinical research and the practice of evidence-based medicine.

"There is no question that health care is better delivered when physicians, hospitals, and other providers work together closely," said Dr. Michel Boileau, chairman of the Physician Hospital Alignment for Central Oregon  (PHA), which represents more than 480 physicians and providers, and St. Charles leaders, in Central Oregon. 

About St. Charles Health System

St. Charles Health System, Inc., headquartered in Bend, Oregon, owns and operates the St. Charles medical centers in Bend and Redmond, leases and operates Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Prineville and provides management services for Mountain View Hospital in Madras. SCHS is a private, not-for-profit Oregon corporation and is the largest employer in Central Oregon with more than 3,000 caregivers in Bend, Redmond and Prineville. In addition, there are more than 350 active medical staff members and nearly 200 visiting medical staff members who partner with SCHS to provide a wide range of care and service to our communities.

About Allscripts

Allscripts (NASDAQ: MDRX) provides innovative solutions that empower all stakeholders across the healthcare continuum to deliver world-class outcomes. The company's clinical, financial, connectivity and information solutions for hospitals, physicians and post-acute organizations are the essential technologies that enable a connected healthcare community. To learn more about Allscripts, please visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements regarding future events or developments, our future performance, as well as management's expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, estimates or projections relating to the future are forward-looking statements with the meaning of these laws. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are outlined below. As a result, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what impact they will have on our results of operations or financial condition.

Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among other things: the possibility that the expected synergies, efficiencies and cost savings of the merger with Eclipsys Corporation ("Eclipsys") will not be realized, or will not be realized within the expected time period; potential difficulties or delays in achieving platform and product integration and the connection and movement of data among hospitals, physicians, patients and others; the risk that the Allscripts and Eclipsys businesses will not be integrated successfully; competition within the industries in which we operate; failure to achieve certification under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act could result in increased development costs, a breach of some customer obligations and could put us at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace; the volume and timing of systems sales and installations, the length of sales cycles and the installation process and the possibility that our products will not achieve or sustain market acceptance; the timing, cost and success or failure of new product and service introductions, development and product upgrade releases; competitive pressures including product offerings, pricing and promotional activities; our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships; undetected errors or similar problems in our software products; the outcome of any legal proceeding that has been or may be instituted against us; compliance with existing laws, regulations and industry initiatives and future changes in laws or regulations in the healthcare industry, including possible regulation of our software by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; the possibility of product-related liabilities; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; the implementation and speed of acceptance of the electronic record provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; maintaining our intellectual property rights and litigation involving intellectual property rights; risks related to third-party suppliers and our ability to obtain, use or successfully integrate third-party licensed technology; and breach of our security by third parties. See our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2010 and other public filings with the SEC for a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties applicable to our business. The statements herein speak only as of their date and we undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or changes in expectations.

SOURCE Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.