Medsphere Enhances OpenVista® EHR System for Meaningful Use

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Medsphere Systems Corporation, a pioneer in open-source healthcare enterprise solutions, today announced the generally available (GA) release of the enhanced OpenVista^® electronic health record (EHR) platform, which is currently being installed across the Medsphere client base.

“The improvements we’ve made enable clinicians using OpenVista to increase efficiency and improve clinical outcomes, which provides obvious benefit to both doctor and patient”

New OpenVista features enable doctors, nurses, technicians and other medical professionals to create their own views, dashboards and workflows enabling quick access to specific information needed to provide the best possible patient care.

“The improvements we’ve made enable clinicians using OpenVista to increase efficiency and improve clinical outcomes, which provides obvious benefit to both doctor and patient,” says Irv H. Lichtenwald, Medsphere president and CEO. “In addition, the upgraded OpenVista enables hospitals to achieve Meaningful Use and qualify for federal incentives. In fact, a hospital can pay for OpenVista with stimulus funds alone, making it the most financially cost effective of all certified EHRs.”

Among the hospitals receiving the upgrade is Midland Memorial, a 320-bed, HIMMS Analytics Stage 6 healthcare system in west Texas. Since implementing the OpenVista system and achieving near-paperless status, Midland has even greater access to patient information, which has enabled clinicians and staff to achieve improved clinical outcomes:

Fewer patient deaths
An 88 percent reduction in infection rates
Fewer hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (bed sores)
A 77 percent increase in compliance with ventilator care support that can lead to reduced hospital-acquired pneumonia
Reduction in sepsis related to central venous access that can lead to reduced length of stay and death

“Because the OpenVista system costs about one-third the price of a typical proprietary platform, our decision was pretty easy from the start,” said David Whiles, director of information systems at Midland Memorial Hospital. “What really sold us, though, were two things: First, the system is very functionally rich and truly integrated. Second, and even more important, is that Medsphere is responsive to our needs and genuinely invested in our clinical success. We acquired an EHR system and it came with a team ready to provide the services necessary to make it work. This model can benefit all hospitals that don’t have tremendous resources.”

Medsphere’s 9–12 month implementation process and other services facilitate fluid and rapid transition to a paperless clinical environment focusing on best practices and evidence-based medicine. The rapid implementation process enables hospitals to qualify for ARRA stimulus funds in the shortest possible timeframe. Additionally, the company actively nurtures a Healthcare Open Source Ecosystem of clients, partners, developers and other online collaborators who drive OpenVista innovation and provide a financially efficient parallel development and support structure.

About Medsphere

Founded in 2002 and based in Carlsbad, Calif., Medsphere Systems Corporation is an award-winning organization of clinical and technology professionals working to make quality health IT solutions accessible to organizations of virtually any size, shape or budget. The company’s OpenVista® is a portfolio of clinical support products and professional services that leverages an electronic health record (EHR) system developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This VistA EHR is widely credited with helping transform the VA into the nation’s most efficient and clinically effective healthcare organization. OpenVista, the most fully commercialized VistA offspring, is a responsible reapplication of the VA’s $8.5 billion investment, which recent studies show have yielded $3.09 billion in benefits, primarily from the near elimination of medication administration issues and duplicate testing.

Medsphere’s subscription-based pricing model also enables hospital, clinic and integrated delivery network customers to pay for OpenVista from their operating budget with no upfront costs or back-end balloon payments.

More information is available at www.medsphere.com.

KEYWORDS: Medsphere OpenVista electronic health record EHR electronic medical record EMR Midland Memorial Hospital MMH