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Associated Cardiovascular Consultants Selects Sage Intergy EHR to Enhance Quality, Clinical Trial Research and Physician-Patient Relationship

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 December 2008, 08:00 CST

TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Cardiovascular Associates (ACC), a 38-doctor cardiology group practice that operates seven locations in Southern New Jersey, today announced that it has selected Sage Intergy EHR electronic health records and Sage Intergy practice management solution. The Cherry Hill, N.J.-based practice, which cares for more than 30,000 patients annually, will deploy the single-database, integrated solution to enhance care delivery, clinical trial research and strengthen its relationship with patients.

"After narrowing our list from 15 to two vendors, we selected Sage because its solution provided the strongest functionality and flexibility that would allow us to address not only our immediate needs, but also reimbursement changes that we know are coming," said John Morris, ACC's executive director. "We now can and will streamline clinical and administrative processes that would have been impossible for us to execute before because of the limited functionality of our current standalone PM and EHR systems."

Sage also announced that it has aligned with MedAxiom, an organization representing 300 cardiology practices and 6,000 cardiologists nationwide. MedAxiom allows practices to measure themselves against cardiology benchmarks and improve efficiency and quality. This relationship will help ensure that the Sage team remains well-armed with the insight, skill and data needed to complement the company's nearly 30 years of success serving cardiology practices in the ambulatory physician market.

ACC's Morris added, "Sage's relationship with MedAxiom was an important indicator of their commitment to the cardiology specialty. We also were very impressed that the customers at the Sage user group recently held in Orlando, Fla., praised the company's customer service and receptiveness to their suggestions for improving its EHR and PM system."

As a result of the increased capability and adaptability Sage Intergy offers, ACC will be able to:

-- Capture the data necessary to collect the 2 percent bonus that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will begin paying in 2009 to physicians who successfully e-prescribe under Medicare Part D.

-- Send friendly, customized letters to encourage patients who are uninsured or have high-deductible health plans to work out a payment plan, rather than just receiving monthly statements followed by calls from debt collectors. This allows ACC to work in a cooperative manner with patients to implement a mutually beneficial payment schedule, which will greatly enhance patient satisfaction and retention as well as improving collections.

-- Provide innovative patient- and caregiver-friendly encounter summaries to ensure that when patients leave the office they will have information about their treatment plan at their fingertips. Cardiology care is complex and many patients, especially the elderly, often are unable to remember or relay physicians' instructions to their caregiver when they get home. The encounter summary will help enhance quality of care and timely patient adherence with the prescribed course of treatment, thus improving outcomes. Additionally, it also will provide interested patients with key information to create and maintain an online personal health record, and boost practice efficiency by reducing the volume of calls from patients and their caregivers.

-- Facilitate patient recruitment for clinical trials being performed by ACC. By embedding the criteria for all its clinical trials into the EHR alert function, ACC will be able to identify candidates for clinical trials as soon as they present before a medical assistant, nurse or physician. This will dramatically improve the efficiency of the patient identification and recruitment process.

Said Sharon Howard, senior vice president, sales and marketing for Sage, "We are excited to partner with one of the country's leading cardiology practices and look forward to helping them realize higher efficiencies, helping position them to successfully navigate the constantly changing healthcare environment."

About Associated Cardiovascular Consultants PA

Based in Cherry Hill, N.J., Associated Cardiovascular Consultants (ACC) is a 38-doctor practice that provides complete cardiac services, including non- invasive and invasive testing, for adults in New Jersey's Atlantic, Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties. It has 180 employees and 12 nurse practitioners at seven offices. ACC cardiologists are all Board Certified in Cardiovascular Services and Fellows of the American College of Cardiology. ACC's mission is to treat and prevent cardiovascular disease and to enhance or improve the health of its patients in an effective and efficient manner. For more information, please visit www.accnj.com.

About Sage Software Healthcare, Inc.

Sage Software Healthcare, Inc., provides integrated electronic health records, EDI applications and practice management systems to thousands of ambulatory care practices throughout North America. These systems enable physicians and practice managers to better manage their practices and improve profitability. Sage Software Healthcare, Inc. is based in Tampa, Fla., and is a division of Sage North America. For more information, please visit www.sagehealth.com or call (877) 932-6301.

About Sage North America

Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. At Sage, we live and breathe business every day. We are passionate about helping our customers achieve their ambitions. Our range of business software and services is continually evolving as we innovate to answer our customers' needs. Our solutions support accounting, operations, customer relationship management, human resources, time tracking, merchant services and the specialized needs of the construction, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofit and real estate industries. Sage North America employs approximately 5,000 people and supports nearly 2.9 million small and medium-size business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 14,800 people and supports 5.7 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the web site at www.sagesoftware.com or call 866-308-2378.

(C) 2008 Sage Software Healthcare, Inc. All rights reserved. Sage, Sage Software, Sage logos and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software Healthcare, Inc. or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Sage Software Healthcare, Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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