Apelon Awarded $4.7 Million Contract to Assist VA with Enterprise Terminology Development.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers RIDGEFIELD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 2003 VA ERT ERT abbr. estrogen replacement therapy Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) A treatment in which estrogen is used therapeutically during menopause to alleviate certain symptoms such as hot flashes. Will Enable Improved Decision Support and Information Exchange Across Facilities Apelon, Inc., supplier of healthcare terminology solutions, today announced that it has received a twenty-one month, $4.7M contract from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for terminology software and services to assist the VA in the development of an Enterprise Reference Terminology (ERT). While the VA uses a "paperless" electronic medical record system, called VistA (Veterans Integrated Services Technology and Architecture), to treat more than 4 million veterans a year at 128 sites, each such site may use locally modified vocabulary files to record patient problems and to order laboratory tests, medications, and procedures. The resulting variability in the electronic health records diminishes the comparability of veteran health data and in turn this reduces the effectiveness of decision support, analysis of treatment plans, disease surveillance, and outcomes measurement. It also complicates the exchange of veteran data between and among VA Medical Centers and Department of Defense care sites. Apelon will provide technology and expertise that will enable the VA to standardize and integrate health data used within VistA. The VA will use Apelon's terminology modelling software, the Terminology Development Environment (TDE TDE 1. tetrachlorodiphenylethane-a chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide. 2. ethoglucid, an antineoplastic agent. ), to create the ERT. Apelon's high-performance vocabulary server, the Distributed Terminology System (DTS (1) (Digital Theatre Sound) A digital audio encoding system used in movie and home theaters. Popularized by the movie Jurassic Park, the six-channel (5. ), will subsequently support VistA access to the ERT. In addition to supplying these software solutions, Apelon clinical and terminology experts will work with their VA counterparts to define the contents of the ERT (which will initially include the National Drug File Reference Terminology NDF-RT, LOINC, SNOMED SNOMED Standard Nomenclature of Medical Diseases and Operations. SNOMED Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine & Veterinary Health informatics A computerized electronic vocabulary system for medical databases, which may become the standard vocabulary (R) CT, CPT CPT See: Carriage Paid To (R), DRGs, HCPCS, and MeSH), and help coordinate the modelling effort among a nationwide modelling team. The VA ERT will be designed to meet requirements from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website, Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when (HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191) Also known as the "Kennedy-Kassebaum Act," this U.S. law protects employees' health insurance coverage when they change or lose their jobs (Title I) and provides standards for patient health, ), including Code Set Versioning, and the VHA Health Data Repository (HDR) Prototype Project. "The ERT project is an exciting, practical example of standardizing health information on a national scale," says Apelon President Stephen Coady. "The ERT will provide the VA with a comprehensive, formally-structured terminology base for advanced error-prevention, quality measurement, and clinical decision support," continues Coady. Apelon's contract for the ERT extends Apelon's ongoing efforts in the development of integrated terminology solutions that will improve the capture, comparability, dissemination and analysis of clinical information. Apelon has related engagements with major federal agencies including the CDC See Control Data, century date change and Back Orifice. CDC - Control Data Corporation , FDA, NASA, NCI, and the NLM. About Apelon Apelon is the largest supplier of medical terminology solutions. Organizations use Apelon software to improve the quality, comparability and accessibility of clinical and biomedical information. Apelon offers terminology development and maintenance software, run time vocabulary servers, and components for concept-based indexing, clinical guideline development, and code set management. Please visit www.Apelon.com for additional information. SNOMED is a registered trademark of the College of American Pathologists This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. . (C)2002 College of American Pathologists. CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association American Medical Association (AMA), professional physicians' organization (founded 1847). Its goals are to protect the interests of American physicians, advance public health, and support the growth of medical science. . |
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