Healthcare It News - February 2008 - (Page 40)

40 Healthcare IT News ■ February 2008 phySIcIaN pRacTIcES & aMBULaTORy caRE www.HealthcareITNews.com tion that invests with public sector will evolve nationwide. This will partners to accelerate EHR adop- save lives and money.” Continued from page 35 tion across Canada. EMRxtra is a significant proO’Brien emphasized that a pharInfoway would like to see gram for pharmacists, macist would only be permitted to the program extend across said Sunny Loo, director access a patient’s medical record if Canada. of information technology the patient had explicitly agreed to “We want to introduce and eHealth at the Ontario allow such access. He said almost mechanisms to cut down Pharmacists’ Association. all GHC patients were enthusiastic on the number of medicaLoo explained that pharabout the project. tion errors,” said Richard macists have traditionally While EMRxtra was initiated at Alvarez, president and CEO Richard Alvarez had only limited access to GHC, the project is funded by a $2 of Infoway. “We have a goal of get- patient treatment information. million grant from Canada Health ting 50 percent of Canadians on a With access to more data, pharInfoway, a federally funded, inde- similar system by 2010, and I think macists could ensure patients HITN_Feb08 WertheimerDip.qxp:Layout 1 1/8/08 information-sharing receive the most appropriate pendent, not-for-profit organiza- this type of 3:20 PM Page 1 CaNada medication to achieve the results IT infrastructure. a physician wants. “We’ve minimized the impact “In the EMRxtra project, phar- on pharmacies in the pilot projmacists can review a ect by using technology patient’s prescribed medithat already exists,” said cation list and compare it Loo. “But going forward, to the prescription history we’ll have to better inteat the pharmacy,” said Loo. grate these processes with “The two are not always the the pharmacy prescription same, so this provides an system. That will make opportunity for reconcilia- Lewis O’Brien, MD it easier for pharmacists, tion of information.” but may require changes As programs like EMRxtra to the system.” ■ expand, there will likely be a need More at HealthcareITNews.com for more investment in pharmacy ●Connect: CaNada 0208 e Canada inks Web portal deal for docs By rICHard PIzzI, Associate Editor FTEs Reduced medical records staff by 22 FTEs. 22 $ 181 K Saved $181K in annual salaries through business office staff reduction. 61% Reduced operating/office supplies costs by 61%. Heart & Family wanted a 100% paperless practice. They needed a flexible solution to redesign clinical workflow and financial management. They turned to NextGen® and quickly documented 64 separate process improvements. Now, Dr. Wertheimer has time to step away from his practice. – Canada Health Infoway has negotiated preferential conditions and pricing for an online portal for Canadian physicians. The agreement is expected to accelerate the implementation of electronic health records in Canada. The agreed-upon technology is the Concerto Physician Portal from Orion Health of Auckland, New Zealand. The Concerto portal is a secure, Web-based application that integrates patient information from various sources into a single record. The “preferred solution agreement” between Infoway and Orion will make it simpler for provinces and territories to acquire an online portal – or health record viewer – product for physicians, say Infoway executives. “The EHR viewer is a vital tool for clinicians because it is the electronic gateway to the information clinicians rely on to make appropriate care decisions for their patients,” said Richard Alvarez, president and CEO of Canada Health Infoway. “We are making great progress towards the modernization of Canadian patients’ health information and that means more clinical data is being captured and stored electronically,” Alvarez added. Infoway leaders believe that access to an EHR portal is critical for Canadian physicians, as such technology eliminates the need for healthcare practitioners to learn multiple computer interfaces and improves accuracy by bringing information from across numerous systems into a single, customizable screen. The organization also thinks these systems have particular benefits when implemented in a standards-based environment. TORONTO More at Electronic Medical Records & Enterprise Practice Management e ● Connect: NextGeN 0208 HealthcareITNews.com Dr. David Wertheimer and his wife Heart & Family Health Institute, Port St. Lucie, FL Stop by our booth #3463 at the HIMSS Conference, February 25 – 28, for a product demonstration, or visit us at www.nextgen.com/HITN for more information. e ●Connect: Portal 0208 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8617 http://www.nextgen.com/HITN http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8624 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=8698 http://www.nextgen.com/HITN

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Healthcare It News - February 2008 Contents Hot Potato Wal-Mart Focus CIO Role Wasteland Linking Docs Katrina Work P4P Team Fire Sale? Emergency Systems Beyond Business

Healthcare It News - February 2008

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