PITTSBURGH – Highmark executives announced Thursday that the health insurer intends to team up with West Penn Allegheny Health System, EHR vendor Allscripts and consulting firm Accenture to develop a framework to provide physicians with electronic health records functionality and practice management tools needed to meet the federal government's meaningful use requirements.

Outreach to Western Pennsylvania physicians is planned for September.

Highmark Inc., based in Pittsburgh, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Highmark serves 4.8 million members in Pennsylvania and West Virginia through the company's healthcare benefits business and is one of the largest Blue plans in the nation.

"With this collaboration, we aim to create an opportunity for independent physicians to acquire the same advanced electronic health records and practice management tools that are currently made available by large health systems," said Deborah L. Rice, Highmark's executive vice president of health services. "Helping these medical providers leverage advanced administrative technology will enable us to promote best practices and clinical excellence across our network and will ultimately improve the overall quality of the healthcare services that our members receive."

The collaboration is intended to offer an affordable package that includes electronic health records, electronic prescribing and practice management tool options such as electronic patient registration, scheduling and patient follow-up, Rice said.

"Patients benefit from electronic health records and other electronic health capabilities at their physician's office through improved quality of care," said Tony Farah, MD, West Penn Allegheny Health System's chief medical officer. "We plan to help physicians with very cost-effective electronic health record solutions that will enable them to access the records they need as quickly as possible to devote more time to their patients. These technologies help with care coordination and provide protocols that drive better health outcomes."

West Penn Allegheny recently announced an expanded relationship with Allscripts for its own technology platform spanning multiple hospitals, physician practices and post-acute facilities.

"The physicians of Western Pennsylvania have been using Allscripts' solutions for years to improve the quality and efficiency of the care they deliver," said Allscripts CEO Glen Tullman. "Meaningful use and the general movement toward value-based care creates a new and more challenging environment in medicine.”

As part of this collaboration, Accenture plans to assist practices in the use and adoption of electronic health record solutions to help enhance the physician experience and improve patient outcomes. 

"We maintain a market-leading track record for successfully shaping and delivering innovative technologies, clinical transformation and health management solutions, and nothing could be more important right now to Western Pennsylvania than enabling doctors and patients to use insight-driven health to make better health care choices," said John Edelblut, who leads Accenture's health business in North America.