HONOLULU – The Ali'i Health Center, a 15-provider, multi-location, multi-specialty practice based in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, plans to go live with an electronic health record and practice management system in December.

The practice tapped Dallas-based Aprima Medical Software for the technology.

Aprima's solutions are sold through Honolulu-based Blue Cliff and qualify for Hawaii's HMSA Initiative for Innovation and Quality (HI-IQ) program, which offers a 50 percent reimbursement of costs associated with a practice's adoption and implementation of an EHR solution, up to $20,000 per physician. The program expires in December.

Ali'i Health is one of the largest group practices in western Hawaii with six locations throughout Kona. Affiliated with Kona Community Hospital, its specialties include general surgery, internal medicine, orthopedics, urology, ENT and pediatrics.

"In addition to being certified for the HI-IQ eligibility, we really wanted a template-free solution," said Sue McConnell, Ali'i's administrative director. "We needed one that included integrated in-house billing, and we wanted one that was designed for use on tablet PCs. Prior to implementing Aprima's solution, Ali'i was outsourcing its billing.  Aprima's integrated billing system and local Hawaiian support from Blue Cliff are extremely beneficial to a practice of our size."

By avoiding templates, McConnell said, users can practice according to their own protocols rather than being forced to conform to standards found in other systems.

McConnell said the HI-IQ program will help with training, and Blue Cliff's offers local support.

"The tablet PCs offer our physicians increased mobility within their locations and enhanced functionality such as handwriting recognition and the ability to annotate on our clinical images for patients," she said. "This project really moves our practice ahead."

"When considering several EHR vendors, we were looking for one that could considerably lower our operating cost," said Michael Mihora, CFO at Ali'i Health. "Eight of our 15 providers are using Aprima's built-in Dragon voice recognition, which has cut time and cost significantly. Aprima enhances our level of care while also increasing our return on investment."