McKesson scores Appalachian EHR contract

Healthcare information technology developer McKesson Provider Technologies said that it will deploy its Horizon Ambulatory Care electronic health record (EHR) system to Appalachian Regional Healthcare’s (ARH) more than 190 employed and affiliated physicians in rural communities across eastern Kentucky and West Virginia.

The facility has installed a wide range of the company’s informatics products, ranging from pharmacy automation and robotics to a web-based physician portal that enables access to inpatient information, according to the Atlanta-based division of McKesson.

The company’s ambulatory EHR includes an e-prescribing system that enables physicians to automatically perform drug screening for allergies, problems and other medications while checking prescriptions against payor formularies and eligibility rules. The health system will phase in additional EHR capabilities, including the capability to place orders, document patient visits, and make patient information available across care settings.

Taking advantage of an exception that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services created to Stark regulations, ARH will offer the purchase of the Horizon Ambulatory Care at substantially reduced rates to affiliated physicians in its service areas and will provide maintenance and technical support.

In related news, the firm said that ARH plans to offer a network to connect physicians with their patients, the hospital, other physicians and pharmacies. The infrastructure will be implemented by RelayHealth, McKesson’s vendor-neutral connectivity services company.

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