Posted June 18, 2008
Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare: Business News
PointClickCare and Allscripts Announce Link Between Hospitals and Post-Acute Care Facilities
New software reduces patient wait times from days to minutes.
Minneapolis, MN, June 7, 2008 — One of widest gaps in the continuity of healthcare — the transition from hospital to a long-term care facility — will be narrowed this month, as two leading software companies complete the integration of a new system that links the data between the two critical healthcare points. This is an important step forward in the quest for Electronic Health Records that will also drastically decrease the amount of time a patient has to wait to be transferred from a hospital setting to a long-term care facility reducing it from potentially days to minutes.
This electronic link, termed the Inquiry Referral Management (IRM) module, was created by PointClickCare and Allscripts (formerly ECIN) and will substantially decrease the amount of time an elderly patient must wait to be transferred from a hospital to a long-term care facility. At the same time, it also assures that a patient's complete medical records are transferred without errors, a common problem when information is sent by phone or fax.
"This is about connecting another piece of the healthcare system," said Mike Wessinger, President and CEO of PointClickCare. "It's about increasing speed, avoiding unnecessary work and ensuring patients are admitted into a nursing home that is clinically prepared because it has received the exact and complete medical data set on the patient."
Together, PointClickCare and Allscipts have the capability to link 40,000 physicians with 6,000 post-acute agencies (including home care), 500 major hospitals and 3,000 long-term care facilities. The IRM will be up and running nationally in May.
Today, hospital discharge planners typically make more than ten manual steps to match a patient with a long-term care facility. The process involves numerous phone calls to several long-term care facilities and a significant amount of re-keying data for each request.
The new IRM module streamlines the process by using one software interface to effectively manage inquiries, incoming calls, and referrals by having all vital resident and contact information in one place within the healthcare system for subscribers. Once the patient is transferred to the long-term care facility, the data is then integrated into PointClickCare's electronic medical and financial records system.
About Allscripts
Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) is the leading provider of clinical software, connectivity and information solutions that physicians use to improve healthcare. The company's unique solutions inform, connect and transform healthcare, delivering improved care at lower cost. More than 40,000 physicians and thousands of other healthcare professionals in clinics, hospitals and extended care facilities nationwide utilize Allscripts to automate everyday tasks such as writing prescriptions, documenting patient care, managing billing and scheduling, and safely discharging patients, as well as to connect with key information and stakeholders in the healthcare system. To learn more, visit Allscripts at http://www.allscripts.com.
About PointClickCare
PointClickCare is the leading electronic health records and business office software for the Long-Term Care industry. PointClickCare Software-as-a Service (SaaS) has been online serving providers of all sizes since 2000 and is used by over 3,000 Long-Term Care centers in 40 U.S. states and across Canada serving over 300,000 residents.
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