ORLANDO, FL – Officials at Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions say they “want the bar to be raised high” as the nation prepares for healthcare reform.

Capping off the company’s Allscripts Client Experience (ACE) user conference this past week in Orlando, Fla., CEO Glen Tullman and President Lee Shapiro both said the Obama administration’s push to reform the nation’s healthcare system won’t work unless the standards are set high for “meaningful use” of healthcare information technology, such as electronic health records.

“I think there is pressure to keep the bar low to get as many as possible to qualify (for EHR stimulus funding), but that could cause us to miss our chance to change healthcare,” Shapiro said. “We want to be on the front end of this.”

Shapiro and Tullman also pointed out that many healthcare providers have been asking Allscripts to be included as test sites for new products. Shapiro said providers are willing to weather the ups and downs of testing a new product in order to be prepared for new technology, and Tullman noted the company is investing $74 million this year alone on research and development.

Tullman said the company is especially focused on e-prescribing (“an on-ramp to the electronic healthcare highway”) and scanning solutions, two areas he sees as poised for growth. When asked what providers are asking of the company, he said they’re looking for simplicity and preconfigured products.

With a record 2,700 attendees registered at this year’s conference – that number boosted in part by the merger this past year of Allscripts and Misys – the event offered Allscripts executives a chance to meet with their customers, explain the latest product roll-outs and chart a course for the future. Clad in signature orange polo shirts, company officials showed off the new Allscripts Patient Kiosk, developed in conjunction with Fujitsu, and Allscripts Remote, an application allowing mobile access to EHRs through iPhones and, later this year, Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices.

"The significant increase in attendance at ACE this year indicates to me that our clients not only are interested in finding out more about the federal stimulus funding for electronic health records, but also more about the company itself and the new solutions we have available as a result of the merger," said Tullman in a press release. "This week, we'll highlight all of those solutions and the opportunity for healthcare organizations of all sizes, whether physician groups, hospitals or post-acute facilities, to connect to health with Allscripts."

"Over the years, it's the face-to-face interactions that are the cornerstone of ACE," added Dan Michelson, the company’s chief marketing officer and senior vice president of solutions management. "This is the ideal forum for customers to meet with Allscripts team members, fellow clients, business partners and vendors who truly understand the challenges they face in trying to improve the quality and lower the cost of healthcare today."

"Clients who use our systems every day are the ultimate authority on what works, and what doesn't," he said. "The feedback clients share with us at ACE helps determine where we invest and how we enhance our solutions."

While previewing upcoming versions of the company’s EHR, practice management, electronic prescribing, revenue cycle management, emergency department information, care management, home care, document management and post-acute solutions, officials also took some time to explain this past year’s roll-out of version 11 of the company’s EHR product.

Speaking to a group of customers, Tullman said Allscripts may have rushed the version out too quickly, and that the company was caught off guard by providers who found new uses for the product. He and Faisal Mushtaq, the company’s senior vice president of product development, said Allscripts has invested roughly $14 million to improve stability and performance, and they expect the next version, to be rolled out soon, to work more smoothly.