Liberty Hospital Chooses Eclipsys to Improve Speed, Continuity and Quality of Care

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of a major clinical initiative aimed at establishing more patient-centered care, Liberty Hospital, a 250-bed community hospital located in Liberty, MO, has successfully activated integrated clinical components of Eclipsys’ Sunrise Enterprise™ suite of solutions. As part of a rolling implementation strategy, Liberty Hospital chose to first transform its emergency department (ED) operations — typically the most daunting area of the hospital to install technology because of the critical need to quickly capture data to triage multiple patients simultaneously. Within six months, Liberty Hospital emergency physicians moved from paper and white boards to Eclipsys’ industry-leading computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system and electronic documentation and charting solutions to improve the speed and quality of placing both medication and non-medication patient orders.

“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Electronic Inpatient Physician Orders, Routine Patient Encounters and Patient Admissions

Now Liberty Hospital’s inpatient physician orders, routine patient encounters, as well as all patient admissions are carried out electronically by emergency nurses and physicians. Evidence-based order sets used with the CPOE system are promoting standardization of patient care decisions in the ED, while inpatient and referral physicians are receiving more legible chart information in support of better continuity of care. In addition, the activation of Eclipsys’ integrated pharmacy information system, Sunrise Pharmacy™, is supporting improved patient safety by providing an electronic medication administration record.

“When we embarked upon the Eclipsys technology initiative, we selected the emergency department as a good place to incubate and showcase the benefits of physician adoption of CPOE and clinical documentation,” said Dr. Brian Robb, Emergency Department Medical Director, Liberty Hospital. “Our approach was from a physician’s angle. Most of our inpatient traffic comes through our emergency room, so now our inpatient physicians already have experienced the benefits of the technology and how it supports delivering more patient-centered care. The high level of success we’ve achieved to date positions us well to take the next step toward activation of inpatient use of CPOE.”

The rollout of Eclipsys’ technologies within Liberty Hospital’s acute care settings is ongoing. The incremental use of enabling technologies is supporting the regional medical center in a steady progression towards achieving the expected “meaningful use” requirements of The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009.

Improved Documentation; More Patient-Centered Care

“According to the nurses in our department, the Sunrise applications have significantly improved the documentation of patient care,” said Cheryl Phillips, RN, CEN, Emergency Department Director, Liberty Hospital. “Our nurses believe the documentation is much more complete because they now have cues to help them remember. Anecdotally, a community physician thought one of our new charts he received had been dictated because it was so complete. He could read everything that had been done to the patient and he even knew what the emergency physician had considered in the care of his patient.”

“Liberty Hospital is taking a focused, deliberate approach to providing its clinical staff with solutions that can improve the speed and quality of care decisions while positioning the organization to fully benefit from the financial incentives of ARRA,” said Jay Deady, Eclipsys’ executive vice president, Client Solutions. “We are pleased the initial technology rollout has been so successful and look forward to working closely with Liberty Hospital’s executive team, physicians and nurses as they endeavor to fully implement their vision for more patient-centered care.”

About Liberty Hospital

Liberty Hospital is a 250-bed regional medical center serving Clay and Platte counties as well as the northwest Missouri corridor. Founded in 1974, Liberty Hospital is a public, non-profit hospital, created for the benefit of its community as a political subdivision district hospital under Chapter 206 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri. It is governed by a six-member, publicly elected board of trustees who serve six-year terms. More than 1,600 employees and 350 physicians deliver compassionate, exceptional care using the latest technology and provide a full range of services. For more information, visit www.libertyhospital.org or call 816-781-7200.

About Eclipsys

Eclipsys is a leading provider of advanced integrated clinical, revenue cycle and performance management software, clinical content and professional services that help healthcare organizations improve clinical, financial and operational outcomes. For more information, see www.eclipsys.com or email info@eclipsys.com.

Statements in this news release concerning the timing of implementation and features and benefits provided by Eclipsys software, ARRA qualification, evidence-based content and implementation services are forward-looking statements and actual results may differ from those projected due to a variety of risks and uncertainties. Implementation and customization of Eclipsys software is complex and time-consuming. Results depend upon a variety of factors and can vary by client. Each client’s circumstances are unique and may include unforeseen issues that make it more difficult than anticipated to implement or derive benefit from Eclipsys software or services. The success and timeliness of the company’s services will depend at least in part upon client involvement, which can be difficult to control. Eclipsys is required to meet specified performance standards, and the contract can be terminated or its scope reduced under certain circumstances. ARRA qualification requires compliance with standards that are still evolving, and satisfaction of those standards may be delayed. More information about company risks is available in recent Form 10-Q and 10-K filings made by Eclipsys from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Special attention is directed to the portions of those documents entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Eclipsys Corporation and The Outcomes Company are registered trademarks of Eclipsys Corporation. Sunrise Enterprise and Sunrise Pharmacy are trademarks of Eclipsys Corporation. Other product and company names in this news release are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.