NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) and leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, today announced it has executed an agreement with EyeHealth Northwest to deploy NextGen® Ambulatory EHR (Electronic Health Record) and NextGen® Practice Management across its 11 offices, 11 optical shops and two surgery centers in Oregon. EyeHealth Northwest is one of 19 ophthalmology practices to choose NextGen® technology during the second quarter of 2010, bringing the company's total ophthalmology-specific client base to nearly 500 practices.
“Our commitment to this market is clearly demonstrated by our specialty director, who possesses more than 25 years of industry experience, and our team of ophthalmology experts, who ensure we're constantly up-to-date on our clients' emerging needs - including those related to achieving Meaningful Use.”
EyeHealth Northwest's 30 providers perform more than 130,000 exams and 12,000 surgeries annually. The agreement with NextGen Healthcare will provide EyeHealth Northwest with an integrated solution to meet its specialty-specific needs while also helping deliver enhanced data access, better flexibility to handle high patient volumes, streamlined workflow and more comprehensive claims management capabilities.
"Implementing an EHR has been on our 'to do' list for a couple of years, but with recent legislation and the push towards Meaningful Use, we knew we needed to take immediate action," said Cindy Rowe, CEO at EyeHealth Northwest. "NextGen Healthcare's expertise in the ophthalmology market - specifically with practices our size - and commitment to helping us achieve Meaningful Use made them the right choice."
The addition of EyeHealth Northwest and 18 other new ophthalmology clients, such as Grand Rapids Ophthalmology and Lansing Ophthalmology in Michigan, will give roughly 5,000 providers nationwide access to NextGen Healthcare's leading technology solutions and its team of ophthalmology experts. This total represents more than half the ophthalmology EHR user population in the U.S.
NextGen Ambulatory EHR version 5.6, a CCHIT Certified® 2011 Ambulatory EHR, features exclusive ophthalmology content, including pre-built clinical templates and workflow, to help ensure complete, accurate documentation stored in a standard format. The solution's disease management templates can enable ophthalmology practices to capture discrete data at the point of care, which will be crucial to meet clinical reporting guidelines for pay-for-performance programs.
NextGen Practice Management's reporting capabilities can be leveraged to accurately track quality improvement measures - a key requirement for achieving Meaningful Use. In addition, the solution's capability to centralize scheduling across multiple locations can help practices like EyeHealth Northwest streamline workflow.
"We're excited to add these practices to our growing ophthalmology client base," said Scott Decker, President of NextGen Healthcare. "Our commitment to this market is clearly demonstrated by our specialty director, who possesses more than 25 years of industry experience, and our team of ophthalmology experts, who ensure we're constantly up-to-date on our clients' emerging needs - including those related to achieving Meaningful Use."
NextGen Healthcare will host an online NextGen Ambulatory EHR and Practice Management demonstration specifically for ophthalmologists on August 9, 2010.
AI in healthcare shows promise in trials but needs real-world testing to ensure effectiveness