Press Releases

Leading Healthcare Technology Companies Launch National Physician Education Program on Stimulus and Electronic Healthcare Records

"EHR Stimulus Alliance" Includes Allscripts, Cisco, Citrix, Dell, Intel, Intuit, Microsoft Corp., and Nuance; Will Deliver Education Programs Across the U.S.

CHICAGO – May. 14, 2009 – Allscripts today announced the formation of a coalition of technology innovation leaders who are partnering to educate 500,000 US physicians about opportunities aligned with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.  The Act details President Obama's plan to improve healthcare quality, safety and efficiency through the secure exchange of electronic health information and the adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) and associated technologies. By connecting physicians, hospitals, pharmacies, payers, public health organizations and other stakeholders across healthcare, information technologies such as the EHR can improve the management of chronic health conditions that account for about 75 percent of U.S. healthcare costs, and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of U.S. healthcare.

The EHR Stimulus Alliance™ – which includes Allscripts, Cisco, Citrix, Dell, Intel, Intuit, Microsoft Corp., and Nuance – marks the first nationwide campaign by a broad coalition of healthcare and technology companies to help physicians explore opportunities associated with the ARRA.  Alliance members are sponsoring The EHR Stimulus Tour™, a significant education program with hundreds of planned virtual and physical events for physicians in cities across the U.S.

"Encouraging every physician to use electronic health records is essential  to achieving President Obama's  goal of a safer, higher quality healthcare system at a price we can afford," said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts, which is leading the Alliance.  "The EHR Stimulus Alliance marks a major step forward in helping more physicians to understand their options for entering the electronic healthcare highway."

Surveys indicate that, while large numbers of physicians are familiar with the basic tenets of the federal incentive program, many do not know the details, including how much money they are eligible to receive, when it will be allocated, how they can qualify, how to meet ARRA's requirements for information exchange, or the cost of implementing an Electronic Health Records.  The EHR Stimulus Tour will provide the answers via executive briefings, roundtables, trade show presentations, webcasts, and local meetings bringing physicians together with Alliance experts and medical groups that have already successfully adopted Electronic Health Records.

Signed into law on February 17, 2009, the ARRA provides physicians a maximum of between $44,000 and $64,000 in incentives for adopting and demonstrating "meaningful use" of an Electronic Health Record beginning in fiscal 2011. Recent studies have demonstrated that physicians who use a connected Electronic Health Record believe the technology dramatically improves the practice of medicine. One such survey of 2,758 physicians, published in the June 18, 2008 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, found that physicians who use a fully functional Electronic Health Record reported the system positively affects the quality of their clinical decisions (82 percent), their ability to avoid medication errors (86 percent), their communication with other providers (97 percent) and patients (72 percent), timely access to medical records (97 percent), and the delivery of long-term and preventive care that meets clinical guidelines (82-85 percent).

Under the ARRA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will pay the incentives to physicians over five years, beginning in fiscal 2011.  Physicians who have not adopted certified Electronic Health Record systems by 2014 will have their Medicare reimbursements reduced by 1 percent beginning in 2015; 2 percent in 2016; and by up to 3 percent in 2017 and thereafter. According to a Congressional Budget Office review of the law, the incentives will drive up to 90 percent of US physicians to adopt Electronic Health Records in the next decade.
 

Alliance Members

The broad cross-section of EHR Stimulus Alliance members have unique experiences, insights and solutions that are vitally important in helping physicians adopt Electronic Health Records and connect with their patients and all stakeholders to improve the clinical or financial aspects of care.

Allscripts, the nation's largest publicly-traded Electronic Health Record provider, uses innovation technology to help physicians and their patients Connect to Health™ - improving quality, eliminating errors and lowering costs.

Cisco prepares physician offices for EHR technology with reliable secure connectivity, network assessments and help in unlocking the value of an EHR with integrated communication and collaboration capabilities.

• "We are pleased to take part in this alliance, which is an important step in the effort to make information technology an integral part of the healthcare experience," said Kaveh Safavi, Vice President, Global Healthcare Practice, Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group.  "We are entering a healthcare industry transformation. New Internet-based technology solutions address a significant barrier to EHR adoption.  Patients need to trust that the information they make available to physicians will be private and highly secure."

Citrix simplifies the ability to access information remotely with the same great performance as if physicians were working directly from a server.

• "Citrix provides secure and mobile access to electronic data, which is critical for electronic health records and to healthcare professionals in any setting," said Carlos Ramos, director of health and human services for Citrix Government, Education & Health. "This alliance gives us an unprecedented opportunity to share this data security with hospitals, physicians and mobile caregivers across the country."

Dell provides healthcare IT solutions that improve quality and efficiency and reduce cost.

• "In a recent survey about stimulus funds, our healthcare customers told us they need clearer and more customized information about ARRA funds and how to address their IT challenges," said Dr. James Coffin, vice president and general manager, Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences.  "Dell is developing solutions that will make the adoption and integration of healthcare IT as simple and cost-effective as possible to improve the quality of care and help clinical practices meet requirements for ARRA funding."

Intel highlights the importance of high performance computing and mobility at the point of care for an EHR solution. 

• "We have long believed that deployment of standards-based IT technologies can streamline processes and create efficiencies in healthcare, ultimately providing the highest quality of care at the lowest cost," said Louis Burns, general manager of Intel's Digital Health Group. "The Allscripts Stimulus Alliance provides an opportunity for our industry to work with physicians, understand their unique needs and provide them the information they need to deploy electronic health records and e-prescribing technologies today."

Intuit's Quicken Health Group is working with health plans, employers and physicians on solutions to make the financial side of healthcare easier and is working with Allscripts on a new solution, scheduled to be available in the summer of 2009 that will benefit practices and patients. Today, thousands of practices use Intuit solutions like QuickBooks® financial software, payroll, Web site solutions, payment processing and QuickBase® to make their business more efficient.

• "At Intuit, simplifying complex tasks for people is what we do best, and we know that managing healthcare finances is especially difficult for both patients and providers," said Peter Karpas, senior vice president and general manager for the Quicken Health Group. "As part of this alliance, we have an opportunity to share our unique patient insights with physicians in an effort to help them get paid faster and increase patient satisfaction, enabling them to spend more time focusing on providing the best care."

Microsoft is committed to improving health around the world through software innovation. In addition to the Amalga Unified Intelligence System and HealthVault consumer web platform, Microsoft collaborates with industry partners such as Allscripts to help unify health information and make it more readily available, ensuring quality of life and affordable care for everyone.

• "The time is now for all providers, especially physicians, to begin adopting EHRs and liberating data trapped in paper records or isolated in siloed systems," said Steve Aylward, general manager of U.S. Health & Life Sciences, Microsoft Corp. "Working with Allscripts, Microsoft is committed to helping providers reduce the need for redundant paperwork and testing, making it easier to retrieve digital radiology images, patient history, prescription information and more. By unlocking data and delivering it to patients through a consumer-controlled personal health record, we can enable improved decision-making and enhance the continuity of care."

Nuance enables EHRs to seamlessly convert voice into text. From free-form clinician dictation to customized voice shortcuts, Nuance's speech recognition technology helps capture physician narrative as part of the EHR to promote meaningful use and ongoing higher quality care while eliminating clinician reliance on typing or manual transcription.

• "The EHR Stimulus Alliance is a unified movement toward turning the national dialogue surrounding the EHR transition into action," said John Shagoury, president, Nuance Healthcare.  "Each of the partners involved has unique solutions that are crucial to EHR implementation.  In our case, speech recognition technology helps increase the meaningful use and efficiency of EHRs by decreasing physician reliance on the keyboard and mouse. By providing speech recognition as an EHR documentation option, medical records are more complete with a detailed clinical history and care plan specific information and are not reduced to point-and-click templates alone. Because most doctors speak at least three times faster than they type, speech recognition makes it possible to get things done more quickly by voice in the EHR than by relying on keyboards and mice alone."

Interested physicians and office administrators can register to take part in The EHR Stimulus Tour by visiting the tour website www.EHRStimulusTour.com or by calling the EHR Stimulus Education hotline: 877-EHRNOW1.  Additionally, the tour website provides valuable information such as legislative updates, FAQs, resources from Alliance members, and summaries of all of the summer Tour stops.

About Allscripts

Allscripts (NASDAQ: MDRX) uses innovation technology to bring health to healthcare. More than 150,000 physicians, 700 hospitals and nearly 7,000 post-acute and homecare organizations utilize Allscripts to improve the health of their patients and their bottom line.  The company's award-winning solutions include electronic health records, electronic prescribing, revenue cycle management, practice management, document management, medication services, hospital care management, emergency department information systems and homecare automation. Allscripts is the brand name of Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

About Dell

Dell listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value.  Dell serves those who serve with next generation infrastructure for healthcare.

About Intel's Digital Health Group

Intel's Digital Health Group is committed to delivering research-based innovation for healthcare. Informed by more than a decade of ethnographic studies, we share a vision with healthcare leaders of using innovative technologies to transform healthcare, improve chronic disease management, and enhance wellness and independence. We develop new health technologies for individuals in the home or on the go, and collaborate with healthcare professionals to enable seamless interaction and information exchange. We help to connect people and information in new ways that increase patient care and safety, reduce healthcare costs, and improve quality of life across the continuum of care.

About Intuit, Inc.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) is a leading provider of business and financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses; financial institutions, including banks and credit unions; consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products and services, including QuickBooks®, Quicken® and TurboTax®, simplify small business management and payroll processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing. ProSeries® and Lacerte® are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional accountants. The company's financial institutions division, anchored by Digital Insight, provides on-demand banking services to help banks and credit unions serve businesses and consumers with innovative solutions.

Founded in 1983, Intuit had annual revenue of $3.1 billion in its fiscal year 2008. The company has approximately 8,000 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.
 

About Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world.  Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance's proven applications and professional services.  For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

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