Main Line Health implements eClinicalWorks comprehensive EHR solution

eClinicalWorks®, a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems, today announced that Main Line Health, a non-profit health system serving the greater Philadelphia region, is implementing eClinicalWorks comprehensive electronic health records (EHR) solution, and also making assistance available to its affiliated physicians who desire to use the eClinicalWorks EHR. The health system has purchased 150 licenses to date and the first practice became live in less than 11 weeks.

“Connecting them with each other and with the hospitals for aspects of care including referrals, labs, radiology and discharge summaries will make the practices more efficient and help facilitate better overall care. eClinicalWorks has shown its ability to execute and has been a great partner in this process.”

"The majority of our hospital patients are also seen by our community providers," said Matthew L. Crawley, Ph.D., director of the community physician electronic medical records program at Main Line Health. "Connecting them with each other and with the hospitals for aspects of care including referrals, labs, radiology and discharge summaries will make the practices more efficient and help facilitate better overall care. eClinicalWorks has shown its ability to execute and has been a great partner in this process."

To further assist its affiliated providers, Main Line Health is supporting this initiative by covering the up-front license fees, arranging for initial training and building the interface. Providers pay Main Line Health for the initial training and will repay the health system for the licenses when and if they receive their incentive payments for demonstrating "meaningful use," as defined through the HITECH Act.

"The commitment in both time and resources to this program from Main Line Health made it easier for our practice to go forward with the implementation of electronic medical records," said Cathy Clarke, M.D., of Clarke & Gardner Internal Medical Associates. "The eClinicalWorks EMR is robust and comprehensive and it changes your thinking quite a bit. It is allowing us to begin seeing real benefits in our practice."

As part of this relationship, many physician practices are taking advantage of eClinicalWorks' fast-track implementation, which brings practices live in less than 12 weeks from contract signing. Main Line Health has also utilized eClinicalWorks to construct a Health Information Exchange Hub to provide a longitudinal view of patient records, along with lab and radiology results and reports.

"eClinicalWorks connects primary care and specialty providers, giving them access to the most up-to-date patient information," said Girish Kumar Navani, CEO and co-founder of eClinicalWorks. "We share the same goals as Main Line Health in offering their community practices a system that is comprehensive, easy to deploy and simple to use. We are excited to be working with Main Line Health to offer its affiliated physicians a system that will help improve patient care."

As part of eClinicalWorks' comprehensive EHR solution, providers affiliated with Main Line Health will have access to the following:

• eClinicalWorks EMR/PM enables clinicians to manage patient flow, immediately access patient records in-house or remotely, electronically communicate with the referring physicians and securely send consult notes and clinical data;
• eClinicalWorks Patient Portal allows patients and doctors to communicate securely via the Internet.
• eBO® performs clinical and financial analytics;
• eClinicalMobile® permits Main Line Health's physicians to access the system at any time through their smart phone;
• eClinicalMessenger® acts as a messaging service that utilizes Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) to enable physician practices to send messages, in batches or singularly, to patients for aspects of care. This includes appointment reminders, lab results, diagnostic imaging and statements; and
• eClinicalWorks P2P™ provides practice-to-practice, provider-to-provider communications in a peer-to-peer environment.

On July 13, 2010, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department released the final rule on "meaningful use" of an EHR under the HITECH Act. Signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009, the HITECH Act authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide a reimbursement incentive for physician and hospital providers who demonstrate the "meaningful use" of an EHR.