Eclipsys’ Sunrise Enterprise integrated suite of solutions selected by NMMC

Eclipsys Corporation® (NASDAQ: ECLP), The Outcomes Company®, today announced that North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC), a 650-bed regional referral center located in Tupelo, MS, has selected the Eclipsys’ Sunrise Enterprise™ integrated suite of solutions. The major technology upgrade, which represents one of the largest contracts in recent Eclipsys company history, will span NMMC’s seven acute care facilities to enhance the quality of system-wide electronic health records (EHRs) for faster, more informed clinical decision making. It also helps to position the health system to meet the expected “meaningful use” definition of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and qualify for maximum stimulus payment opportunities.

Continual Progression to Advance Quality

NMMC holds the distinction of being among the few healthcare organizations in the United States to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest Presidential honor for organizational performance excellence. As the largest private hospital in Mississippi and the largest non-metropolitan hospital in America, NMMC has been a long-standing leader in the use of health information technology, using information to drive continuous improvements in clinical performance. The health system is consistently named as one of “America’s 25 Most Wireless” and “100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems.”

“We are committed to providing our patients with consistent high-quality care and taking full advantage of technologies that share evidence-based guidelines and support reducing variability in care,” said John Heer, chief executive officer of North Mississippi Health Services, which includes NMMC and NMMC Women’s Hospital in Tupelo, as well as community hospitals in Eupora, Iuka, Pontotoc and West Point, MS, and Hamilton, AL. “By undertaking this broader technology initiative, including adoption of Eclipsys’ computerized physician order entry solution, we’re equipping physicians with in-depth research clinical content at the point of care, as well as easy, secure access to the latest patient information from their offices, homes or other locations.”

Plans call for NMMC to upgrade its Eclipsys technology infrastructure in a rolling facility “big bang” approach, beginning with the major referral center, NMMC - Tupelo, followed by NMMC’s six affiliated community hospitals.

Adoption of Industry-Leading CPOE Solution to Improve Patient Health Outcome

The technology initiative includes adoption of Eclipsys’ industry-leading computerized physician order entry (CPOE) solution, Sunrise Acute Care™. With a medical staff representing more than 40 medical specialties, NMMC clinicians can expect to gain clinical decision support resources and access to even the most complex order sets and medication ordering as part of the system, including the exacting protocols, long-range medication schedules and complicated treatment plans commonplace in oncology and pediatric environments.

According to the KLAS CPOE Digest 2009: Meaningful Use and Physician Adoption report, Eclipsys leads the industry in total physicians live on CPOE and percentage of its client base using its system. Eclipsys also continues to have the highest physician satisfaction from clients who use its CPOE system, and on average, highly customizable ordering capabilities allow a physician to order faster than any other CPOE solution on the market.

Other new, integrated clinical applications slated for deployment include Sunrise Pharmacy™, Sunrise Emergency Care™, Sunrise Critical Care™ and the Knowledge-Based Charting™ clinical documentation solution to enable members of the care team to electronically record and review patient information at the point of care in every department, while enhancing coordination and efficiency.

“We’ve already established a single, integrated health record spanning all venues of care based on our 26-year relationship with Eclipsys,” said T.E. Bozeman, chief information officer of North Mississippi Health Services. “To meet the higher threshold ARRA requirements, we’re electing to continue our Eclipsys partnership because the litmus test for this legislation is to utilize technology in such a way that it maximizes the value to physicians and ultimately patients. Eclipsys has a demonstrated track record of on-time on-budget implementations, plus exemplary success in helping organizations achieve physician adoption of and meaningful outcomes from technology. We look forward to working with Eclipsys to further enhance and automate our care processes and qualify for federal stimulus dollars.”

Portal Technologies and Analytics for Improved Information Access

Rounding out the technology initiative, Eclipsys’ portal technologies will be activated to provide NMMC patients and caregivers access to personalized health care information, including up to date results, prescriptions, and scheduled doctor’s appointments. Eclipsys portal technologies provide seamless, secure, web access to health information across the continuum of care. In addition, Sunrise Clinical Analytics™ will be deployed to support NMMC goals for quality improvement, including helping NMMC satisfy the expected ARRA meaningful use reporting requirements. Sunrise Clinical Analytics provides the foundation to support the increasing requirements of a data driven health care system. Sunrise Clinical Analytics intelligently transforms health care data to support optimized analytics and reporting, operational decision making, as well as patient safety and quality initiatives.

“To meet the expected provisions of ARRA, healthcare organizations must go beyond demonstrating that clinical technology exists, but also document how physicians are using the technology to support the placing of orders, preventing errors and enhancing care decisions,” said Jay Deady, Eclipsys’ executive vice president of Client Solutions. “Eclipsys CPOE technology contains the significant knowledge of Eclipsys’ clients of evidence-based content to treat hundreds of medical conditions, yet it is easy-to-use and broadly adopted because it can be tailored to how physicians work and practice medicine. That complex content, combined with an integrated medication management solution and high-performing analytic tools are a winning combination for organizations, such as NMMC and other valued clients seeking to drive clinical excellence and enhanced patient outcomes.”

Building on an Integrated, Advanced Platform for a Seamless Care Environment

The ARRA clinical technology initiative builds upon NMMC’s ongoing Eclipsys’ revenue cycle technology initiative involving deployment of Sunrise Patient Financials™, Sunrise Enterprise Registration™ and Sunrise Enterprise Scheduling™. With integrated administrative, financial and clinical applications, NMMC’s authorized system users ultimately will gain single log-on access to patient demographics, scheduling information and electronic medical records (EMRs) to create a seamless care environment across multiple venues without administrative disruptions.