Allscripts to Provide UMass Memorial Health Care With EHR Software

Clinical software provider Allscripts has agreed a deal to provide UMass Memorial Health Care with its TouchWorks Electronic Health Record for the health system’s 800 employed physicians and 200 independent medical staff members.

UMass Memorial is the clinical partner of University of Massachusetts Medical School and the largest healthcare system in central and western Massachusetts. The agreement with the healthcare provider follows a successful two-year study of its TouchWorks Electronic Health Record (EHR) involving 80 physicians at UMass Memorial.

During the pilot, the EHR enhanced patient care and improved the management of physician practices, leading to sharply lower overhead costs. For example, average time between service and billing was reduced from five days to one, and average length of accounts receivable dropped from 35 to 22 days.

“After realizing significant results from using a scaled down version of the Electronic Health Record for more than two years, we are convinced that the full Allscripts solution will have a profound impact on improving the quality of care and reducing expenses for our employed and staff physicians in the ambulatory environment,” said John O’Brien, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care.

“This will provide an electronic dialogue among all the members of a patient’s care team no matter their location, and help to deliver truly integrated patient care,” he continued.

The TouchWorks EHR will allow UMass Memorial physicians instant access to patient information at the hospital, in their offices or while on-call at home. The product automates and makes safer everyday clinical tasks such as prescribing and refilling medications, ordering and reviewing tests, and documenting patient care.

UMass Memorial will integrate TouchWorks with Centricity Business (formerly IDX Flowcast), the practice management system used by its employed physicians.