Healthcare IT News - November 2008 - (Page 40)

www.HealthcareITNews.com vENDORS November 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 39 oNlINE Continued from page 1 mErgEr Continued from page 37 “We now have a platform TO gROW.” – Mike Lawrie came to a close when the two companies agreed to merge Allscripts with Misys’ Raleigh-N.C.-based healthcare subsidiary. The merger, which gives Misys control of the company’s purse strings and places operational duties in the hands of Allscripts and its CEO, Glen Tullman, had its share of detractors, but 9:52 AM Page 10/1/08 Lawrie and Tullman1have been quite vocal in proclaiming the deal as a shot in the arm for the U.S. healthcare industry. “The market believes in the underlying fundamentals of this transaction,” said Tullman. “Healthcare is not going to go away. The problems in healthcare have to be solved.” The new company, based in Chicago, is one of the largest providers of electronic health record and practice management services in the coun- health information like Waterfront Media.” The Revolution Health deal, reportedly worth $300 million, brings together the second- and third-largest purveyors on online health information in a bid to compete with the acknowledged frontrunner, WebMD. According to a recent study by comScore, Inc., a Reston, Va.-based analyst of digital communications, the online health information site category has grown 21 percent during the past year, more than four times the growth rate for the total U.S. Internet population. The merger brings Washington D.C.-based RevolutionHealth.com into Waterfront Media’s Everyday Health Network, a network that is projected to have more than 20 million unique users and serve as the market leader in audience reach for at least 23 health conditions. The combined company will have 24 online health properties. “The inclusion of Revolution Health and its properties in the Everyday Health Network creates the most powerful, expansive online health experience for consumers,” said Benjamin Wolin, who co-founded Waterfront Media with Mike Keriakos and now serves as its CEO. “Both companies share a common heritage of providing consumers with access to online information, tools and support for healthier living.” Added Case: “When we entered the healthcare market we knew one of the areas we wanted to focus on was using the Internet to empower consumers and give them more choice, control and convenience. The merge of Waterfront Media and Revolution Health Network builds on each company’s complementary strengths to create a new industry powerhouse – thus enabling us to accelerate our efforts to reach the largest, most engaged audience and help people stay healthy, mange chronic disease and deal with serious illness. WebMD hasn’t been sitting still, either. The company recently sold off its interest in Emdeon Business Services and announced the acquisition of QualityHealth.com for $50 million and an additional $25 million based on performance metrics. According to comScore, WebMD Health continues to lead the market with 17.3 million visitors in July, up 3 percent from last July’s figures. The three other top health networks are Everyday Health, with 14.7 million visitors (up 63 percent); Revolution Health Network, with 11.3 million visitors (up 182 percent); and AOL Health, with 11.1 million visitors (up 88 percent). Yahoo! Health is listed by comScore as the 6th largest online health site. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: oNliNe 1108 said Mike Lawrie, chief executive of Misys plc and executive chairman of the new Allscripts. “Providers need to look for ways to improve their productivity, and this is one of them. This may play right into the economic environment.” “We now have a platform to grow,” he added. Last month, the courtship between British banking giant DrMcCullough_8.125x10.625 Misys and Chicago-based Allscripts try, with access to roughly 700 hospitals, 7,000 post-acute and homecare agencies and 150,000 physicians. The key to the company’s survival now, both Lawrie and Tullman said, is innovation. Both say there will be several announcements over the coming months of new contract and products. Among them is a self-service kiosk, integrated with the company’s EHR and PM suites, that will be rolled out shortly at the Springfield Clinic in Springfield, Ill. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: MerGer 1108 ● “Rising costs associated with transcription and tracking patient records were adversely affecting our practice’s bottom line. Since I had previous experience using Dragon® Medical, I knew I wanted to implement speech recognition with our TouchWorks® EHR from Allscripts®. To maximize our ROI, Dragon would not only promote physician EHR usage, but would also entirely eliminate rising transcription costs and provide the complete records necessary for accurate coding and billing at a higher level of reimbursement than before. Now, all 17 physicians in our practice use Dragon within TouchWorks and are completely mobile with their dictation, using wireless microphones and tablet PCs. They’re achieving speech recognition accuracy rates of over 98% and notes are being turned around instantly — before patients leave the office. As a result, patient satisfaction has been tremendous. We were getting five referrals per month, but last month we had 70. We’ve added several physicians to our group and are well positioned for continued future growth.” Visit Dictaphone at RSNA, Booth # 6215. Steven J. McCullough, DO Nephrologist Jackson Purchase Medical Associates Paducah, Kentucky ©2008 Nuance Communications, Inc. www.nuance.com /dictaphone | 1.800.350.4836, EXT. D698 ● Speech-driven clinical documentation and communication for healthcare leaders™ e ● Connect: DictaPHoNe 1108 http://www.3mhis.com/benchmarking http://www.3mhis.com/benchmarking http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=10351

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Healthcare IT News - November 2008 Contents $700M Strong PHR Power Stepping It Up Geo IT EMRs Go Rural HiMSS Insider: Making a Difference Home for the Blues Merge Amnesty Management Solutions: Outsourcing Appeal Clinical Toolkit: Enterprise PACS

Healthcare IT News - November 2008

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