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Caritas Christi Health Care System Chooses McKesson for Enterprise-Wide Cardiovascular Information Access

Posted on: Monday, 31 March 2008, 09:01 CDT

As a continuation of its efforts to connect caregivers with the crucial patient information they need, Caritas Christi Health Care System (CCHCS) has selected McKesson's Horizon Cardiology™ cardiovascular information system (CVIS). CCHCS will extend its integrated enterprise-wide imaging strategy by implementing McKesson's complete, single database system supporting medical imaging and reporting capabilities for cath (including hemodynamics), echo, and electrocardiograms (ECG) into all six of its hospitals. CCHCS is Massachusetts' second largest integrated delivery network and annually performs more than 8,000 catheterizations and interventions, 6,000 vascular studies, 22,000 echocardiograms and 95,000 ECGs.

"We wanted a CVIS system that would seamlessly connect all our clinicians throughout the enterprise," said Dr. Jeffrey J. Popma, director of invasive cardiovascular services for CCHCS's Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. "A big factor in our selection of Horizon Cardiology is the single database and common user interface, which will allow our caregivers to access consistent, quality patient data from all our facilities."

The Horizon Cardiology solution provides the industry's only single-platform solution for all cardiovascular information -- cath, echo, hemodynamics and ECG. Its cardiovascular image management, archiving, procedural reporting, and workflow management features will help improve productivity and provide greater throughput for CCHCS's cardiology department. The single integrated database for all cardiovascular images and information eliminates redundant data entry. In addition, comprehensive Web tools decrease report turnaround time and accommodate the physician's hectic schedule.

"With this agreement, McKesson is enabling CCHCS to unify an unmatched level of real-time patient information to support the critical decisions physicians make in the cardiology department everyday," said Rod O'Reilly, vice president and general manager for McKesson's Medical Imaging Group. "With Horizon Cardiology, CCHCS will arm their cardiologists with the tools they need to work more efficiently. Most importantly, they should be able to provide better, safer patient care across the health system."

In December 2004, the organization began their multi-year roll out of McKesson's Horizon Medical Imaging™ picture archiving and communications system (PACS) to the six hospitals. The system provides CCHCS' radiologists with instant access to radiology studies and allows clinicians to share those images across all six hospitals. McKesson's PACS also integrates images from multiple modalities and provides referring physicians with patient images as part of a complete care record.

About Caritas Christi Health Care System

Caritas Christi Health Care is an integrated health care delivery network providing exceptional care to more than one million people annually. Caritas Christi operates the following acute care hospitals throughout Massachusetts: Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center, Brockton; Caritas Norwood Hospital, Norwood; Caritas Carney Hospital, Dorchester; Caritas Holy Family Hospital and Medical Center, Methuen; Saint Anne's Hospital, Fall River; and Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston, the system's tertiary care referral center. Caritas Christi also operates a 400-physician group practice, an academic medical research institute, a health sciences college, a clinical laboratory network, a community-based human service agency for women and children, centers for hospice and home care, and an international medical services agency for the poor. http://www.caritaschristi.org

About McKesson

McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 18th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes, and improving the quality and safety of patient care. McKesson is the longest-operating company in healthcare today, marking its 175th anniversary this year. Over the course of its history, McKesson has grown by providing pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals, physicians, homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit http://www.mckesson.com.

Source: Business Wire

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