Aspire Indiana Works with MedInformatix to Customize Practice Management and Electronic Medical Records Solution for Psychiatric Practices

CARMEL, Ind., June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Upon joining BehaviorCorp as medical
director in 1990, Dr, Jerry Sheward, M.D. recognized the glaring need for then
non-existent electronic medical records (EMR) to enable the multi-location
behavior health care organization to optimize the services it provided to adults
and children in the Indianapolis area and across Central Indiana. The practice’s
UNIX-based practice management (PM) solution, apart from residing on a reliable
but closed operating system, was not user friendly, and therefore didn’t provide
what Dr. Sheward and his colleagues viewed as the right platform for EMR
solutions to come.

Compounding these challenges was the fact that the system did not address
specific requirements of psychiatric practices and offices, which, unlike
general and other specialty practices, in addition to Joint Commission
accreditation also must adhere to the strict requirements of a myriad of other
governmental and regulatory agencies. While Dr. Sheward identified seven
psychiatric practice-centric management systems by the 2000-2001 timeframe,
including solutions from NextGen and A4, among others, he found them still too
heavily geared toward general medical practices.

Testing a variety of these, BehaviorCorp in 2002 chose MedInformatix Inc.’s
Practice Management solution for its new office platform, adding clinical
functionality the following year working in lock step with the vendor to develop
custom features for a psychiatric practice.

“The Joint Commission, Indiana, Medicare, Medicaid and other agencies each have
regulations as they relate to behavioral health practices covering patient
treatments and outcomes. The fact that we provide treatment planning;
outpatient, residential and group home services; foster care assistance; and,
substance abuse treatment to 12,000 patients each year demanded a customized
solution,” said Dr. Sheward, now vice president and chief medical officer of
Carmel-based Aspire Indiana, the result of a merger between BehaviorCorp and The
Center for Mental Health, Anderson, Ind.

“MedInformatix was fully willing and extremely helpful in working with us to
modify the [PM] module to support our ability to track billing as it relates to
the adjustable fees we charge based on individual patients’ ability to pay,” Dr.
Sheward continued. “Without their flexibility and technical expertise, we can’t
imagine how we’d manage in this extremely regulated environment.”

Dr Sheward, who specializes in treating serious and persistent psychiatric
disorders among adults, supervises a team of 10 psychiatrists, two prescribing
APNs, nurses, and an in-patient liaison staff that serve Aspire’s clients. This
team comprises a part of Aspire’s total 400-employee staff, each member of which
daily use the jointly developed MedInformatix/Aspire Practice Management (PM)
and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) solution, which also includes
MedInformatix’ e-Prescribing (eRx) module. In addition to enabling communication
with patients’ preferred pharmacies, eRx eliminates the need for printed
prescriptions and nets Aspire a monetary bonus from the Federal Government,
which rewards practices for green initiatives that use electronic rather than
paper-based communication.

Upon its development and implementation, MedInformatix’ customized EMR solution
quickly became so beneficial to Aspire’s operations that Dr, Sheward, as vice
president of operations, and a team of former BehaviorCorp clinicians and
practice management personnel opted to form ARCHEON, a separate value-added
reseller to market and provide product support to other large behavioral
healthcare providers.

Next up for Aspire is leveraging the MedInformatix’ EMR solution to achieve
Stage 1 Meaningful Use certification, a testament to the product’s enhanced
ability to track patient conditions, treatments and outcomes.

“MedInformatix continues to closely work with us to improve the PM and EMR
solution as both our practice’s operations and those of our ARCHEON clients
continue to evolve,” Dr. Sheward said. “Their technicians are extremely helpful
and also often anticipate and make suggestions about system enhancements. We
can’t imagine running our practice without it.”

About MedInformatix:

MedInformatix, Inc. (www.medinformatix.com) is a leading national provider of
fully integrated Electronic Health Records. The products have been built around
MedInformatix’s 25 years of workflow expertise. MedInformatix’s suite of
products is designed on a single database using Microsoft SQL. Whether the
client is a single physician who went live in 1994, a 13-location cardiology
practice, the busiest radiology practice in Manhattan, or one of 15 other
serviced specialties, MedInformatix accommodates their needs. MedInformatix can
turn the dream of a paperless, integrated practice into a reality.

MedInformatix Version 7.5 is now certified to meet 2011-2012 criteria supporting
Stage 1 Meaningful Use requirements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment
act (ARRA) as a Complete EHR by the Drummond Group.

This Complete EHR is 2011/2012 compliant and has been certified by an ONC-ATCB
in accordance with the applicable certification criteria adopted by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an
endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or guarantee the
receipt of incentive payments.”

MedInformatix, October 22, 2010,Version 7.5, 1022201024238, Clinical Quality
Measures: NQF0013, NQF0421, NQF0041, NQF0024, NQF0028, NQF0038, NQF0059,
NQF0061, NQF0064. Additional software used: TrueCrypt v2.0, email software,
spreadsheet software.

SOURCE MedInformatix