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In deploying the Allscripts Electronic Health Record for physicians in itsowned medical group as well as affiliated physicians, EJGH is leveragingrecent changes to the federal Stark regulations which allow hospitals tosubsidize the purchase of healthcare information technology for non-employedphysicians.
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"By offering physicians in the East Bank of Jefferson Parish theAllscripts electronic health record, we hope to provide a seamless connectionto critical patient information throughout the entire continuum of care,anytime and anywhere," said Mark J. Peters, MD, President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer of East Jefferson General Hospital. "Our goal is to help all of theregion's physicians to connect electronically to East Jefferson for trulyintegrated patient care."
Opened in 1971 as a non-profit hospital in Metairie, adjacent to NewOrleans, EJGH today has 450 beds and 3,000 employees. In 2002 the hospital wasnamed Louisiana's first Nurse Magnet Hospital by the American NursesCredentialing Center, a status that places it among the nation's tophospitals. It is one of only eight facilities nationwide to hold affiliatestatus with M.D. Anderson Physicians Network, the nation's leader in cancercare, and was recently ranked the No. 1 cardiac care hospital in Louisiana byHealthGrades.
The Allscripts Electronic Health Record automates everyday clinical taskssuch as documenting patient care, ordering and reviewing tests, andprescribing and refilling medications. EJGH will integrate the Allscriptssolution with its inpatient information systems, enabling physicians outsidethe hospital to view the charts, schedules, lab results and radiology resultsof their hospitalized patients. The Electronic Health Record will be providedfor EJGH physicians using secure Internet connections leveraging the Softwareas a Service (SaaS) model, a simple, affordable means of delivering vitalpatient information to caregivers without the upfront costs of purchasing newequipment to host the solution themselves. The SaaS model also speedsdeployment and is becoming an increasingly important option for mid-size andindependent practices.
"Physicians want to focus their time, effort, and money on caring forpatients, not managing technology, and we think the Software as a Servicemodel will make it easier for East Jefferson's affiliated physicians to enterthe electronic healthcare highway," said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officerof Allscripts. "Thanks to East Jefferson's leadership, more physicians inJefferson Parish will be able to improve the quality of care they deliver andmore effectively manage the costs of their own medical practices."
As part of its communitywide information strategy, EJGH will encourageaffiliated physicians who do not implement the Allscripts EHR to adopt theAllscripts ePrescribe solution, a Web-based electronic prescribingapplication.
"Study after study has shown that electronic prescribing can help preventneedless medical errors, so for those physicians who choose not to implementthe electronic health record, we want to make it as easy as possible for themto still prescribe electronically," said EJGH Chief Medical InformationOfficer Chris Barrilleaux, M