New Mexico Orthopaedics Selects Allscripts Electronic Health Record

Allscripts, the leading provider of clinical software, connectivity and information solutions that physicians use to improve healthcare, today announced that New Mexico Orthopaedics has selected the TouchWorks(TM) Electronic Health Record (EHR) to automate and connect their 46 providers and support staff.

New Mexico Orthopaedics is the largest orthopedic practice in the state of New Mexico. The group is comprised of 24 Physicians and 22 mid-level providers and physical therapists with a broad range of specialties to include orthopedic and spine surgeons, sports medicine, hand surgeons, total joint surgeons, physiatry, podiatry, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and physician assistants. The Electronic Health Record will enable New Mexico Orthopaedics providers to gain instant, secure access to patient information whenever and wherever they need it, whether in the clinic, in the surgery center, or while on-call at home. The group has already eliminated the use of paper medical charts in the practice using Impact.MD(R) document imaging management software from Allscripts.

"We are convinced that it is impossible to consistently deliver the highest quality of patient care in the most efficient manner without an Electronic Health Record," said Barbara Seigal, Executive Director of New Mexico Orthopaedics. "Allscripts has already taken the paper out of our practice and now we’re taking the next and more important step of connecting and automating our providers with the EHR."

The web-based TouchWorks Electronic Health Record (http://www.allscripts.com/touchworks) improves the delivery of safe, cost-effective quality care by automating many daily clinical tasks, such as prescribing medications and documenting clinical encounters. The Allscripts solution provides extensive orthopedic-specific clinical content, enables orthopedic practices to adapt existing documentation templates for common problems and injuries, captures clinical images directly into the patient’s chart, and interfaces with Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS).

The group selected Allscripts after receiving recommendations from a number of large orthopedic practices across the country, as well as another Albuquerque practice, the New Mexico Heart Institute. New Mexico Heart, the largest cardiology group in the state, deployed TouchWorks at its 18 locations in New Mexico and southern Colorado in 2005 and was satisfied with the software as well as the deployment. "We’re excited about the Allscripts focus on care templates for our large in-house physical therapy department, the interface to our practice management system, as well as the opportunity to reduce our annual transcription costs," said Seigal.

"Allscripts is the perfect solution for an orthopedic practice because it will allow our physicians to continue to practice medicine at their pace as well as streamline many office functions," added Anthony Pachelli, M.D., the group’s physician EHR champion. "With only a few clicks, I am able to provide customized completed forms, patient education information and prescriptions that, without an EHR, would have taken me took several minutes per patient to complete. Even more important, we are confident that Allscripts comes with all the clinical content needed by each of our specialists."

New Mexico Orthopaedics will integrate TouchWorks with their Centricity Group Management (formerly IDX(R) Groupcast(TM)) revenue cycle management system.

"Orthopedic practices prefer our Electronic Health Record because it is uniquely designed to optimize the orthopedic workflow and best practices," said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts. "We are excited about partnering with New Mexico Orthopaedics in their constant quest to improve patient care and do so in a way that keeps healthcare efficient and affordable for their patients."