Clinical

Tool Offers Alabama Medicaid E-Prescribing

Headquartered in Dallas, Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS)'s Web-based EHR record and clinical support tool, QTool, now has new e-prescribing functionality, it says.

According to ACS, it actually developed QTool to support Alabama Medicaid's initiative to build a statewide electronic health information system. The company says approximately 150 Medicaid-enrolled physicians are pilot testing QTool in nine Alabama counties including Calhoun, Houston and Tuscaloosa.

In addition to e-prescribing, physicians can view information on patients' ER, hospital and doctor visits, lab tests, and medications, the company says. ACS touts QTool's built-in alerts that notify the physician when asthma and diabetes patients need special tests or care.

athenahealth EHR Earns CCHIT Certification

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT, Chicago) has approved the software component of Watertown, Mass.-based athenahealth Inc.'s service-based EHR, athenaClinicalsSM Version 9.15.1, as a conditionally CCHIT Certified 08 Ambulatory EHR pending advanced electronic prescribing verification.

According to CCHIT, athenahealth's EHR service meets the Certification Commission's EHR criteria for physician office-based use.

MedCentral Launches Data-Mining Solution

The Commission - a private, nonprofit organization - is the recognized certification body for certifying health information technology products.

MedCentral Health System (Mansfield, Ohio) launched Malvern, Pa.-based Siemens' knowledge-driven healthcare data-mining tool, Soarian Quality Measures.

According to the company, the application will help MedCentral streamline its quality improvement process by automating chart abstraction and helping expedite the submission of quality measures. Soarian Quality Measures replaces manual chart reviews with accurate and automated chart abstraction of quality measures, says the company. It analyzes and draws conclusions from all available electronic patient data from both Siemens and non-Siemens IT systems, and the results of the analysis are presented in a simple, intuitive interface, it touts.

MedCentral Health System is an independent, not-for-profit organization comprised of two general, acute care hospitals: Mansfield and Shelby, with a combined total of 351 beds and 44 bassinets. The system offers complete cardiac care, comprehensive neurological services, a walk-in medical center, industrial health and safety services and the MedCentral College of Nursing.

Initiate Systems Links to Federal CONNECT Gateway

Chicago-based Initiate Systems Inc. has successfully integrated its software with the Federal Health Architecture's CONNECT Gateway.

According to the company, Initiate's patient registry, part of the Initiate Interoperable Health solution, is among the first products to demonstrate interoperability with the Gateway. Its patient registry technology integrates with the open-source architecture, using Web service technology and HL7 standards, says the company.

Initiate successfully completed tests with the CONNECT Gateway's Subject Discovery Service, which locates patients based on demographic information, and completed interactions needed to locate and return patient information requested by a peer from the NHIN network.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the CONNECT Gateway is designed to enable public and private health information technology systems to communicate with each other through health information exchanges using Nationwide Health Information Network specifications and conventions. The CONNECT software was released as open source technology by the Office of the National Coordinator in April 2009, it says.