New York Quality of Care Grant Awarded to SigmaCare
EMR Technology Will Improve Care and Increase Efficiencies in Nursing Homes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cathy St. Denis/Alissa Schulman (202) 667-0901;
Thomas Dima (212) 260-3401
NEW YORK (November 15, 2006) – The Quality Care Oversight Committee (QCOC) has selected eHealth Solutions and its SigmaCare™ mobile electronic medical records (EMR) system to help nursing homes in New York State improve care delivery, decrease medical errors, and lower health care costs.
A $13.5 million grant, made available through the state-funded Quality of Care Demonstration Project, will be used to deploy SigmaCare™ in 24 facilities throughout the state. It will revolutionize the way care is provided in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. The SigmaCare™ system allows health care providers to access medical records for every resident at any time, and because it is a hand-held system, it is available at the point of care.
Nurses and other clinicians in long-term care facilities spend countless hours handling volumes of paper orders and records. This unique technology, which was designed specifically for health care workers in nursing homes, will enable care givers to spend significantly less time doing data management and more time providing quality patient care. In addition, the system results in fewer medication errors and makes the billing process more accurate, which ultimately reduces health care costs overall. Furthermore, SigmaCare captures all of the data that will be gathered and utilized in any pay-for-performance reimbursement system, which Medicare, many states and commercial carriers are designing.
“The purpose of this project is to improve the care given to nursing home residents as well as to create a better working environment for the care givers,” said Martin F. Scheinman, Chairman of the QCOC. "Moving to EMR in the long-term care industry is critical, and we selected SigmaCare™ from more than 20 providers because we felt it provided all the solutions we needed.”
The SigmaCare™ mobile technology supports federal health information technology (HIT) efforts to adopt electronic medical records and create a national HIT infrastructure. According to a Brown University report release last week for the National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care by professors Vincent Mor and Edward Alan Miller, adopting HIT in long-term care would help government in its regulatory responsibilities as well as enable providers to track patients’ care as they move through different facilities, which is common among the elderly. In addition, federal and state assistance would “likely increase the ability of some long-term care providers to sustain HIT over the long run,” the report stated.
The Demonstration Project, which advances federal HIT initiatives, is administered by the QCOC, which is comprised of representatives from 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, employers contributing to the Greater New York funds, and the long-term care industry’s arbitrator.
“Replacing time-consuming, burdensome paperwork with easy-to-use, cutting-edge technology specifically designed for long-term care facilities will allow health care workers to spend more time doing what they are trained to do – delivering high-quality care to all the residents,” said Jay Sackman, Executive Vice President, Nursing Home Division, 1199SEIU.
“This collaboration among the state, employers, and the health care workers union is unique in the long term care industry in the United States,” said Steve Pacicco, CEO of eHealth Solutions. “We are enthusiastic about this opportunity and pleased that the QCOC recognized our technology significantly improves nursing home operations, enhances quality of care, and helps residents live longer, healthier lives.”
###
About eHealth Solutions
eHealth Solutions, Inc. develops and markets innovative mobile, point-of-care solutions for long term care facilities (SigmaCare™) that enable physicians and other medical professionals to improve treatment outcomes, avert preventable medication errors, and significantly reduce administrative burdens. For more information, please visit www.ehealthsolutions.com.
|
