Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL), the non-profit organization facilitating the expanded use of health information technology in Vermont, and Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX), the Chicago-based health information technology provider with a major facility located in South Burlington, Vermont, announced last week their intention to enter into a strategic alliance.
VITL is the state-funded provider of health information technology infrastructure for Vermont’s Blueprint for Health, a groundbreaking initiative of the Vermont Department of Health to build a statewide chronic care information system. Formed by a broad base of providers, payers, employers, patients and state agencies, VITL is a multi-stakeholder nonprofit corporation largely supported by the state’s Health Information Technology Fund.
The formal alliance between Allscripts and VITL was announced at the VITL Summit conference in Burlington on September 24, following a speech by Vermont Governor Jim Douglas. The alliance will allow the two organizations to leverage their combined expertise, capabilities, contacts, knowledge and services to accelerate the adoption of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems by Vermont-based physicians and other healthcare providers.
The Blueprint for Health provides information, tools and support to self manage health. Its patient centered medical home model, supported by community health teams, seeks to shift the focus of healthcare from the largely reactive treatment of symptoms to a more proactive approach.
“Allscripts, with its strong presence in Vermont and its broad array of products, is the perfect partner for VITL,” said David Cochran, M.D., VITL’s President and CEO. “Allscripts offers physician practices a choice of three different electronic health records systems. Allscripts also provides locally-based, customer technical support.”
Vern Davenport, Allscripts President, Government Sector, commented, “Vermont leads the nation in developing a sustainable blueprint for healthcare IT adoption and backing it up with strong leadership from Governor Douglas, state agencies, and VITL. We are proud to have been selected by VITL to help Vermont take advantage of the phenomenal opportunity afforded by new federal EHR incentives to enhance the quality and lower the cost of healthcare for everyone.”
Beginning in 2011, Vermont physicians can qualify for between $44,000 and $64,000 in payments from CMS for adopting and demonstrating “meaningful use” of an EHR. Physicians who have not adopted certified EHR systems by 2014 will have their Medicare reimbursements reduced by up to 3 percent beginning in 2015.
Studies demonstrate that effective use of EHR systems reduces medical errors, improves clinical quality and leads to better patient outcomes by enabling real-time access to patient records, medical information and best practices, and electronic connectivity to all healthcare stakeholders, including patients.
The strategic partnership between VITL and Allscripts follows the announcement last week by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Governor Douglas that Medicare will join Medicaid and private insurers in a new demonstration project to improve the way healthcare is delivered. The new partnership between public and private payers will be based on the model of primary-care delivery that is currently being tested by Vermont’s Blueprint for Health.
Under the Vermont model, private insurers work in cooperation with Medicaid to set uniform standards for advanced primary-care models, also known as medical homes. The goal is to provide physicians with incentives to spend more time with their patients and offer better-coordinated, higher-quality medical care.
Allscripts will join VITL in facilitating the automation of the patient centered medical home (PCMH) and community health teams, local multidisciplinary teams created by the Blueprint initiative that provide care support across physician practices for prevention, health maintenance and chronic disease.
About VITL
Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that operates as a public-private partnership. VITL’s mission is to collaborate with all stakeholders to expand the use of secure health information technology to improve quality and efficiency of Vermont’s health care system.
About Allscripts
More than 160,000 physicians, 800 hospitals and nearly 8,000 post-acute and home care organizations utilize Allscripts to improve patient health. The company’s offerings include electronic health records, electronic prescribing, revenue cycle management, practice management, document management, hospital care management, emergency department information systems and home health care automation. Allscripts is the brand name of Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc. www.allscripts.com.
