Today, Siemens Healthcare announced it has renewed its strategic alliance with NextGen Healthcare Information Systems to deliver innovative ambulatory information technology (IT) solutions. More than 35 Siemens customers have already deployed NextGen Healthcare's ambulatory IT tools throughout their physician networks as a result of the relationship, formed to offer healthcare providers interoperable solutions that cross the care coordination gap between the acute and ambulatory environments.
In today's healthcare environment, exchanging health information across disparate systems and being positioned to receive government incentive monies tied to the HITECH provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) have become key drivers for technology adoption among healthcare providers. However, as patients seek and receive care in multiple settings, many physicians still lack shared access to key patient information such as patient history, medications, details of acute-care visits, and discharge summary notes.
NextGen Healthcare's interoperable ambulatory IT solution, available to Siemens customers through the renewed alliance, fills this void by enabling providers to access health information more readily across the healthcare continuum. Ideal for the multi-practice enterprise or solo practitioner, the application's flexibility helps users easily create and maintain complete medical records while it streamlines workflow, provides disease management capabilities, and helps them manage outcomes data. As a result, clinicians are better enabled to optimize patient care, the risk of the human element in medical error is reduced, and costs can be better controlled because duplicate testing and services are minimized.
"For a delivery system to be organized and highly functional, interoperable health information technology is a critical infrastructure need," stated Tom Bush, MD, Division Chief of Rheumatology and EMR Project Medical Director at Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System. Santa Clara is an acute care facility located in Santa Clara, CA that signed on for NextGen Healthcare to streamline their clinical data flow for faster, more accurate data extraction and interpretation, resulting in more time for their patients. "Our Siemens and NextGen interoperable solutions enable us to easily assemble the knowledge to make more intelligent clinical decisions and, ultimately, improve the delivery of healthcare services."
According to Siemens Healthcare Health Services CEO, Janet Dillione, establishing information access across the care continuum can have a profound impact on not only customers' quality of care, but also their bottom line.
"As a leader in providing innovative IT solutions to healthcare providers, Siemens continues to support the national campaign for a connected, interoperable system that expedites the exchange of electronic health records, and the renewal of our agreement with NextGen Healthcare emphasizes our commitment to that goal," said Dillione.
"Ensuring that providers in both the ambulatory and inpatient settings have access to the same patient information is a critical strategy in addressing the challenges facing healthcare today," says Scott Decker, president of NextGen Healthcare. "This level of interoperability equips hospital staff with the current, historical data needed to guide medical decision-making and treatment. Likewise, it presents community physicians with a comprehensive view of care delivered in the hospital, complete with patient discharge plans and follow-up recommendations."
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