MacNeal Health Network Wins Coveted Healthcare Award For Their Use Of Electronic Medical Records In Physician Offices.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 3, 1996--MacNeal Health Network (Chicago, IL) was honored today with the prestigious 1996 Health Data Management Innovators Award for application of electronic medical records.

The MacNeal electronic medical record system is based on the Azron, Incorporated's wireless mobile electronic medical record system. The most important criteria for the award was the ability to demonstrate tangible evidence of how an electronic patient record system lowers cost and increases quality of care.

The timing of this award is particularly important as information technology is increasingly being used to reduce costs and improve quality in healthcare. According to a Editor and Publisher of Health Data Management Magazine, Howard J. Anderson, "There was a very high level of competition for this year's award." This is the third time this award has been given.

There are over two hundred companies offering electronic medical record systems. MacNeal CIO, Dave Printz commented on the award, "We are committed to enhancing our competitiveness in the marketplace with the application of information technology. Patients like the faster response to their questions by physicians and staff and therefore perceive a higher quality of care. This allows us to build patient loyalty because we give them something they can not get elsewhere. Physician groups also like it because they are starting to look toward integrated delivery systems to provide them with state-of-the-art technologies to enhance their competitiveness. This strategy has helped us to attract physicians to MacNeal."

The MacNeal Health Network serves the healthcare needs of the Chicago metropolitan area and the suburbs of Illinois. The network includes a 427 bed hospital, over thirty healthcare centers, more than 500 physicians, home health and behavioral health services, along with a complete range of specialties.

The MacNeal Electronic Medical Record System

MacNeal Health Network has had a successful implementation of wireless mobile computer access to the computerized medical record system since January 1995. It is now used in ten of MacNeal's primary care centers with additional centers to be added. Over 200 physicians, nurses, therapists and support staff use the system daily. Over 30,000 patient charts are currently on the system. Clinicians use desktop PCs or wireless mobile computers connected to a medical record database on the server, which ensures data integrity.

Staff "pulls" the patient chart with a few taps of the electronic pen as patients arrive. Clinicians fill out electronic forms with either a keyboard or an electronic "ink" pen. This system has completely replaced paper charts in five of the ten MacNeal centers that have it installed. Tangible benefits that won MacNeal the award include: Hidden costs are also eliminated including creation and assembly of paper files, searching for files, maintaining files and multiple secondary file locations, repairing files, and keeping the filing room clean.

MacNeal has opened a primary care center without any paper charts, which eliminates file clerks and dramatically reduces paper costs and furniture costs associated with the chart room. As compared to paper-based systems, supply costs were cut in half over the first six months and in half again after a year. The savings are about $1.50 per patient per year for existing patients and $4.27 for new patients. Time spent by nursing and clerical support staff working on paper-related tasks were reduced by fifty percent within six months.

Patient reaction has been very favorable and call backs can be accomplished sooner because of the availability of information. In addition, there is never a delay when information from a chart is needed and multiple people can use it simultaneously - neither are true for paper charts. Prior to using the medical record software, paper charts were not immediately available to physicians about twenty percent of the time.

The managed care population of MacNeal is steadily growing. One of the primary care centers recently had a managed care medical record documentation audit that resulted in one hundred percent compliance and the audits are much easier to complete. A year earlier and without the electronic medical record system, the same primary care center had only eighty percent compliance. The center manager attributed the improved performance directly to the electronic medical record system. Azron, Incorporated is located in San Diego, CA and was founded in 1993 to apply the latest information technology to the challenging medical records needs of healthcare providers. -0-

Note To Editors: The Innovators Award article text is available on the Azron Web site. Four color reprints of the article are also available. Additional information about Azron EMR can be obtained from the Azron Web site at the following URL: http://www.azron.com/

CONTACT: MacNeal Health Network

Alexa Kavalos, 708/795-3978

or

Azron Inc.

Hollon Bridges, 619/450-0200

or

Health Wave

Brian Grimm, 910/686-0870