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Bergen Regional Medical Center Selects Emerging Health Information Technology to Evaluate and Design IT Strategy

Posted on: Friday, 15 February 2008, 12:00 CST

Emerging Health Information Technology, a provider of healthcare professional services and IT-based solutions, announced that it has been awarded a multi-year contract to lead Bergen Regional Medical Center (BRMC), New Jersey's largest hospital, through the evaluation and design of processes, workflows and technology for clinical and business information systems at the 1070-bed Paramus facility. BRMC is best known for its broad scope of clinical services within the areas of acute care, long-term care and behavioral healthcare and also offers many comprehensive specialty services and community programs.

"Our selection of Emerging Health as our consulting partner is based on their success at hospitals and long-term care organizations, and our confidence in their ability to help us maximize the value of legacy systems and identify new IT applications and services." said Heather Aaron, president and chairperson, Bergen Regional Medical Center. "Our goal is to increase our ability to provide the best quality patient care and enhance the work life of our physicians, clinical staff and employees."

Emerging Health began working with BRMC during the spring of 2007 to help assess the overall IT functions at the hospital with the goal of building a foundation for a broader IT transformation.

"I am delighted that Bergen Regional Medical Center has selected Emerging Health. As someone who grew up in Bergen County, I am amazed at how much progress BRMC has made in the last 18 months and I am excited to see them moving forward in so many areas," said Jack Wolf, president and chief executive officer, Emerging Health. "Clearly, Bergen Regional is embracing information technology innovation and it is an honor for Emerging Health to be part of the organization's continued expansion."

Over the next several months, Emerging Health will utilize the firm's well-defined methodologies and tools for process design to assist BRMC with the identification of strategies to improve performance and efficiency. Through benchmark analysis, performance measurement and reporting, the team will help BRMC establish a clear process improvement plan and technology implementation roadmap.

Wolf continued, "Heather Aaron and the leadership at BRMC are champions of information technology and Emerging Health's Professional Services Consulting Team has been working with them to develop both a short-term tactical agenda and a long-range strategic plan. I believe our ability to work together as a cohesive organization was an important factor in our success at winning this engagement." Emerging Health's consultants will explore the medical center's clinical and revenue cycle optimization processes and systems. As a part of its contract with BRMC, Emerging Health's recommendations may affect systems for admission, registration, billing, reimbursement and reporting. Medical records completion and access including medical records departmental operations such as chart tracking, completion and coding as well as physicians and clinical staff electronic access to medical chart information may be re-engineered. Medication administration including all activities related to ordering, dispensing, distribution, administration and documentation of medications will be evaluated and potentially enhanced. Assessments, care planning and clinical documentation across all divisions and disciplines will be evaluated. Process design for materials management with particular emphasis on improved use of new system capabilities and features may also be considered.

"Bergen Regional Medical Center is fully committed to creating a future where information technology plays a critical role in helping to enhance patient care and patient safety," concluded Aaron.

About Emerging Health

Emerging Health Information Technology is a healthcare professional services company that provides IT-based solutions and services to hospitals, long term care facilities, integrated delivery networks and large ambulatory practices that improve the quality of patient care, maximize financial performance and increase operational efficiency. The company works with the world's leading healthcare systems providers to implement clinical and revenue cycle healthcare solutions. The firm provides project management, IT resource planning, systems assessment, application design and development and integration services as well as application outsourcing and infrastructure management services. Emerging Health is a subsidiary of Montefiore Medical Center. For more information, visit www.emerginghealthIT.com

Source: Business Wire

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