MedicaLogic announces Electronic Medical Records projects With Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, University of Arkansas.

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 18, 1997--Following Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield's selection, last year, of its Logician(R) software for an ambulatory medical record pilot project, the company announced today that its EMR software will serve as the outpatient clinical information component in a new statewide health information network organized by Arkansas Blue Cross.

At the same time, the company said the University of Arkansas' School for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine has begun a demonstration and evaluation project with MedicaLogic to evaluate the feasibility of using electronic medical record technology in its Department of Family and Community Medicine.

In cooperation with two of the state's leading health care provider organizations, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield created the AdvancedHealth Information Network (AHIN) as a means of equipping healthcare providers with tools to improve the quality and efficiency of care, while reducing costs for patients, employers and payers. Logician was chosen for AHIN's multi-technology information architecture, and will underpin one of the most extensive clinical data repositories (CDR) in the country.

"Our goal with AHIN is to implement a system statewide that links together physicians, hospitals, employers and insurance carriers," said Robert L. Shoptaw, president of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. "Such a system will enable physicians to manage any patient's care, and maintain a complete record of that care regardless of where he or she receives it. This will lead to tighter, more efficient treatment regimens which will in turn result in lower costs."

Under the CDR strategy, Logician and various practice management systems will be tightly interfaced with the AHIN to allow seamless transferral of clinical and administrative patient information among physicians, hospitals, other healthcare providers and insurance companies. As a result, a physician will be able to perform a broad spectrum of functions from his or her desktop computer, including reviewing and signing dictation, ordering outside diagnostic tests, processing referrals and performing pre-admission certifications. Outside labs or hospital services will receive orders electronically and return the results to the physician's desktop, thereby avoiding the paper documentation step. Insurance claim processing will be similarly handled, with pre-authorizations and charges electronically transmitted and automatically applied to the appropriate patient's account.

In December of last year Internal Medicine Associates (IMA) took the first step toward operating within the AHIN network by completing its Logician installation. IMA is a 20 physician practice based in Jonesboro, Ark. and an affiliate of St. Bernards Regional Medical Center, a co-sponsor of the AHIN initiative. The practice expects full integration with AHIN by mid 1997.

The UAMS demonstration project is set to begin this month at the university's Family and Community Medicine clinic in Little Rock. Approximately 30 resident and faculty physicians in the clinic will be trained on Logician, subsequently using it in the day-to-day treatment of patients.

Logician was designed for use in outpatient settings; specifically, to give physicians and nurses instant access to patient information such as current diagnoses, medications, allergies and laboratory results. It offers real time decision-support tools, including treatment protocols and referral guidelines, and automates workflow to enable physicians to spend more time with patients and less time on paperwork. Networking and electronic data interchange (EDI) capabilities allow the sharing of patient information throughout an organization.

MedicaLogic has been providing medical record software and knowledge base modules to the healthcare market since 1985. Customers are served by MedicaLogic's national network of 15 distribution channel partners and the company's own sales, implementation, training and technical personnel in 20 offices around the country.

CONTACT: Bill Trainer, for MedicaLogic

503/222-3546

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