ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Eclipsys Corporation® (NASDAQ:ECLP), The Outcomes Company®, today announced that Athens Regional Medical Center (Athens Regional), a 375-bed regional referral center located in Athens, GA, has selected Eclipsys PeakPractice™ electronic medical record (EMR)/practice management (PM) solution. As a current user of Eclipsys’ integrated clinical system, Sunrise Enterprise™, Athens Regional will use PeakPractice to link vital patient information with its network of physicians to achieve greater continuity of care and enhanced patient safety across its care community. Physician networks in scope for the technology initiative include Athens Regional Physician Services, Athens Regional FirstCare and Athens Regional Specialty Services, which encompass 58 physicians practicing at 27 locations.
“This initiative will serve to standardize data transfer and communication between our organization’s ambulatory and acute care environments, while at the same time serving to enhance the efficiency and quality of care within our physician practice offices,” said Tim Penning, chief information officer, Athens Regional Medical Center. “PeakPractice is a very appealing solution that runs on a single database, enabling integration and automation of all of the paperwork and clinical documentation required for episodes of care in a community practice setting. We look forward to implementing our strategic physician alignment plan and facilitating the exchange of care information that leads to an enhanced patient care experience and improved outcomes.”
In a later phase, Athens Regional will utilize PeakPractice to link care information with participating affiliated community physicians in Northeast Georgia. By supporting development of an integrated EMR across the community, the initiative will serve to further integrate patient care information, such as patient allergies, current medications and latest medical history across providers in a geographic region for improved care continuity, safety and quality. The community EMR program will utilize the Eclipsys HealthXchange™, powered by Medicity, to enable the seamless exchange of information across a network of disparate and disconnected EMR systems. The initiative also will serve to aid local physicians in becoming eligible for stimulus funding associated the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, which provides incentive payments to physicians who demonstrate “meaningful use” of an electronic health record (EHR).
“We recognize the clinical and economic importance in achieving connectivity among all healthcare providers and care settings in our regional area,” said Larry Webb, chief financial officer, Athens Regional Health Services. “Not only will this program support increased operational efficiency within our organization, we are making it much easier for community physicians to receive economic benefit from adopting technology that supports improved care delivery, because the PeakPractice solution offers capabilities to help enable physicians to qualify for incentives under ARRA.”
The PeakPractice solution also appealed to Athens Regional due to the wide variety of specialists that practice within its physician network—from pediatrics to urology. With flexible templates that enable easy modification, the PeakPractice system offers ease of modification to enable practitioners to easily adapt patient documentation to meet the specialty’s unique workflow needs.
