Lutheran Healthcare Recognizes Medsphere CEO for Improving Patient Care

CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Medsphere Systems Corporation, the leading provider of open source electronic health records, today announced that company CEO and President Michael J. Doyle is the recipient of the prestigious Sister Fedde Award. Presented by Brooklyn-based Lutheran Healthcare, the award recognizes Doyle’s contribution to the health of area residents by leading the development of open source health technology.

“As an innovator in new levels of efficiency, delivery of care and patient safety through electronic records, Mr. Doyle has become a key figure in the national push to expand EMRs to all hospitals”

Lutheran Healthcare is currently implementing OpenVista, Medsphere’s flagship open source electronic health record (EHR) system, at Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) to improve the efficiency and quality of care at the facility. As a full service 476-bed teaching hospital, LMC is a network of primary, acute and long-term care centers providing a continuum of services from early childhood development, to senior support, to state-of-the-art medical care.

Doyle was presented the award, named after Sister Elizabeth Fedde, who founded the hospital in 1883, at Lutheran Healthcare’s 126^th anniversary dinner dance on May 9, 2009.

“As an innovator in new levels of efficiency, delivery of care and patient safety through electronic records, Mr. Doyle has become a key figure in the national push to expand EMRs to all hospitals,” said Wendy Z. Goldstein, president and CEO of Lutheran Healthcare. “We are delighted to honor Mr. Doyle’s leadership and are proud to be partnering with Medsphere on the future of healthcare.”

Lutheran Medical Center is the first non-governmental organization on the East Coast to adopt OpenVista, which will help the hospital improve patient outcomes, clinical efficiency and communication between providers through open source technology.

“It is truly an honor to be recognized by Lutheran Healthcare, an organization that demonstrates leadership and an enduring commitment to delivering exceptional care to the community,” said Doyle. “This award recognizes the efforts of everyone at Medsphere, and I am proud to accept it on behalf of the company. We believe that combining the latest in proven technology with highly trained and compassionate physicians, nurses and other care givers is a winning strategy. Lutheran is a pioneer in weaving together quality health care and effective technology for the benefit of patients and the community; Medsphere is proud to contribute to this effort.”

Through its partnership with Medsphere, Lutheran Healthcare is ahead of an emerging curve in the implementation of EHR systems. Nationwide, health IT has generated a great deal of interest this year with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which provides more than $19 billion in stimulus funds to physicians and hospitals for health IT adoption. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) also recently introduced the Health Information Technology Public Utility Act of 2009, requiring that open source electronic health records solutions are made available to all healthcare providers at little or no cost.

About Medsphere and OpenVista

As a disruptive force in healthcare information technology, Medsphere is revolutionizing the industry by delivering commercially supported open source software based on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ proven VistA EHR. The product of 20-plus years of development and more than $8 billion invested, VistA enabled the transformation of the VA into the nation’s most efficient and clinically effective healthcare organization. Currently VistA contains roughly 2.1 billion clinical documents, 2.76 billion orders, and 1.51 billion images. As the commercialized version of VistA, Medsphere’s OpenVista is a portfolio of products and professional services for hospitals, clinics and integrated delivery networks. OpenVista is currently used by over 20,000 individuals, including 2,500 physicians and contains hundreds of thousands of medical records. Medsphere addresses healthcare’s capital constraints through an innovative business model:

• A unique subscription-based pricing model minimizes upfront costs.
• The Healthcare Open Source Ecosystem and Medsphere.org portal coordinate a unique grassroots community of customers/subscribers, partners and developers driving OpenVista innovation and providing a parallel development and support structure.
• Medsphere's experienced team of healthcare technology professionals and unique suite of implementation tools deliver a fluid transition to a comprehensive healthcare information technology solution.

Founded in 2002, Medsphere is backed financially by Azure Capital Partners, Thomas Weisel Venture Partners and EPIC Ventures (formerly the Wasatch Venture Fund). Medsphere clients include Midland Memorial Hospital, Midland, Texas; West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WV DHHR); Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, Rock Springs, Wyoming; Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York; and the federal government’s Indian Health Service. For more information, visit http://www.medsphere.com and http://www.medsphere.org.