Community Hospitals and Physicians Partner to Deliver the Best Care Possible

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--McKesson today announced that it has signed a record number of community hospitals for its Paragon^® community hospital information system (HIS) and Practice Partner® electronic health record (EHR) and practice management solution.

“York Hospital is excited about this new partnership with McKesson”

These top-rated systems connect physician practices to the hospital allowing instant access to the most comprehensive patient information and improving the providers’ ability to deliver the best care possible. McKesson currently supports more than 100,000 of the nation’s providers with technology solutions that address the needs of every practice size and specialty.

During the past 12 months, more than 10 community hospitals nationwide, including San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital in Banning, California, and York Hospital in York, Maine, have partnered with local physicians to deploy EHR technology and e-prescribing solutions. Participating physicians and the local hospital alike gain ready access to patient allergies and medical histories, enabling more informed treatment decisions, a better patient experience, and ultimately improved treatment outcomes.

“In most instances healthcare is delivered locally and the technology platform created by the Paragon and Practice Partner solutions can fundamentally change care processes throughout a provider community,” said Dave Henriksen, vice president and general manager, McKesson Physician Practice Solutions. “McKesson has leveraged a comprehensive line of solutions for hospitals and physicians in order to offer an integrated EHR shared by participating caregivers across care settings. This offering effectively breaks down the traditional barriers that have required the patient to be the custodian of their medical condition and history.”

With the Paragon and Practice Partner solutions, hospitals take advantage of their existing technology infrastructure to house and support the integrated EHR. Both the hospital and physicians gain workflow efficiencies by integrating laboratory and radiology orders between the practice and the hospital. As an example, the solutions deliver electronic laboratory and radiology results directly to the physician's work queue and provide immediate access to view them from the practice or the hospital. Additionally, the integrated systems eliminate the need for a referred patient to re-register when presenting at the hospital.

“York Hospital is excited about this new partnership with McKesson,” said Kathryn St. Cyr, Lead, Physician Practice Management for York Hospital. “This next level of involvement offers great integration with our current hospital system for the physician practices who work with us, and this enhanced collaboration drives safer and more efficient care for the patients in our community.”

McKesson’s Paragon HIS solution includes a complete suite of integrated applications that addresses patient safety, financial and revenue cycle management, regulatory and HIPAA compliance and more. For the second consecutive year, the solution was named Best in KLAS in the community hospital information system category in the Top 20: 2007 Year-End Best in KLAS report issued by KLAS Enterprises, LLC¹. The system uses industry-standard, Microsoft^® software², which protects an organization's ongoing investment and makes the operating system familiar to virtually all computer users.

“McKesson understands that the success of community hospitals is critical to patients receiving both local and personal high quality care, and we are focused on specific solutions that benefit the community setting,” said James Pesce, senior vice president and general manager, Paragon.

McKesson’s Practice Partner software includes an award-winning, certified electronic health record system, recognized by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT); a sophisticated multi-clinic scheduler; and a comprehensive medical billing solution. The Practice Partner solution’s customer base includes more than 1,800 practices representing over 6,500 physicians. A multiple award-winning solution, the solution received best EHR software in 2007 from Ac Group and the 2006 TEPR (Toward Electronic Patient Record) award for best EHR software from the Medical Records Institute.

About McKesson Corporation

McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 18th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and healthcare information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes, and improving the quality and safety of patient care. McKesson is the longest-operating company in healthcare today, marking its 175th anniversary this year. Over the course of its history, McKesson has grown by providing pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals, physicians, homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit http://www.mckesson.com.

¹ Top 20: 2007 Best in KLAS, KLAS, December 2007, www.klasresearch.com, © 2008 KLAS Enterprises LLC. All rights reserved.

² Microsoft is a trademark of the Microsoft group of companies.