ATLANTA, Dec. 18, 2012—Setting a bold course for the future, Rideout Health plans to deploy Paragon, McKesson’s hospital information system (HIS), to equip hospital staff and clinicians with modern technology that also provides a highly competitive cost of ownership. With an expanded Rideout Regional Medical Center set to open in 2015, the northern California provider selected Paragon to support its objectives of driving better clinical, financial and operational performance across its growing facility.
“With its Better Health 2020 strategy, McKesson has a clear vision of where the industry is going and how we can use information technology more strategically,” said Tarun Ghosh, senior vice president and chief information officer, Rideout Health. “As we modernize our facilities, we see IT as a strategic enabler for enhancing quality while reducing costs, both of which are essential as we prepare for health reform and advance our position as a leading regional integrated delivery network. Ultimately, it’s all about improving our ability to provide better care and quality for our patients.”
Rideout Health officials credited their ongoing partnership with McKesson as critical to achieving their long-term strategic goals. The health system also expects to experience significant short-term benefits as well. By replacing its multiple current systems with a single-database, integrated solution, the health system will make patient data available to physicians and staff simultaneously and in real time, leading to better care.
“From an enterprise perspective, Paragon offers a set of unified tools that enhances decision support, provides better access to patient information, improves documentation, and supports the delivery of evidence-based medicine as we move toward being a fully integrated system,” said Theresa Hamilton, chief executive officer, Rideout Health. “In short, Paragon will help our entire care team deliver better, more coordinated care to our patients.”
“We are excited to extend our partnership with Rideout Health as they execute their wide-ranging expansion plans,” said Jim Pesce, president, Paragon, McKesson Provider Technologies. “I’m confident we will provide a high-value solution that will quickly deliver benefits while positioning the health system for ongoing success under health reform.”
McKesson’s partnership with Rideout Health is the latest example of the company’s Better Health 2020 strategy in action. Better Health 2020 aims to help customers address the complex challenges facing healthcare, including the need to reduce costs, coordinate care, assume risk and manage complex payment models.
