RMMC selects Allscripts' EHR and Practice Management solutions

Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) announced today that Renaissance Medical Management Company (RMMC) has selected the company's Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Practice Management solution to automate and connect clinical and administrative processes for a minimum of 51 family practice and internal medicine physicians. The new service offering from RMMC builds upon the previous deployment of Allscripts by 30 RMMC-affiliated physicians, and is a key part of RMMC's health information exchange and connectivity strategy.

RMMC provides a variety of services to its physicians using a combination of technology, education and performance-based financial incentives in partnership with Independence Blue Cross. The management company has created a dedicated team to host and support Allscripts for its physician stakeholders, freeing them from the need to purchase new hardware and to provide their own IT support staff. The move is designed to leverage physician interest in qualifying for between $44,000 and $64,000 in Medicare and Medicaid incentives for physicians who adopt and use an Electronic Health Record beginning in 2011.

"Our primary goal is to help all of our care providers to connect electronically to share patient information and provide truly integrated care," said Robert J. Haracz, Vice President of Information Services for RMMC. "We've seen firsthand how Gateway Medical Associates, one of our primary medical groups, has improved quality while lowering costs using Allscripts, and with the federal EHR incentives stirring up interest in the technology, now is the right time to share those benefits with the rest of our physician stakeholders and physicians across the community."

Gateway Medical Associates, a 30-physician RMMC practice in Chester County, Penn. that has been using Allscripts since 2006. Jean Stretton, M.D., a physician at Gateway, says the integrated Electronic Health Record and Practice Management solution has transformed the way she cares for patients. "For instance, if someone's blood count is low, we can instantly see what it was three or six months ago without having to flip through their chart," Dr. Stretton said. "This helps us determine the significance of a lab result and not only helps us provide better care but saves a lot of time and improves our productivity."

Susan Fleck, Gateway's Director of Operations, added that Allscripts paid for itself within 18 months by eliminating costs associated with paper medical charts, reducing transcription and streamlining operations. "We love the system and we love what it's done for patients," Fleck said.

Gateway has implemented several additional Allscripts innovations including Allscripts Remote, which enables physicians to access patient records on the iPhone®, BlackBerry® or Windows® smart phones; automated pay-for-performance reporting, which greatly simplifies the process of tracking and reporting on patients' progress against disease management plans; and the Allscripts patient portal solution, which lets patients access their medical records, order prescription refills, make appointments, and view test results securely over the Internet.

The RMMC offering will include interfaces between Allscripts and the inpatient information systems of many regional hospitals, as well as every major laboratory system in the area.

"Renaissance Medical Management has been a leader in the Philadelphia region in implementing innovative programs to improve both the quality and efficiency of healthcare, and we're proud that they have found Allscripts to be such an important part of that effort that they've now decided to expand our partnership in a significant way," said Glen Tullman, Allscripts Chief Executive Officer. "Together, we're making strong progress towards our shared goal of transforming healthcare with innovation technology that helps physicians deliver better, lower-cost care for the patients they serve."

The Allscripts Electronic Health Record solution provides easy access to comprehensive patient records anytime, anywhere to improve patient care. By automatically tracking key patient metrics and providing automated decision support, the web-based solution helps physicians evaluate and improve their practices and enables them to deliver more effective disease management, preventive care, and long-range health maintenance.

The Allscripts Practice Management solution is fully integrated with the Electronic Health Record and is among the most advanced medical management systems available today.