MOUNT KISCO, NY – Mount Kisco Medical Group (MKMG) in New York, with 230 physicians representing 40 specialties and serving 250,000 patients a year, is about to give its digital ways a makeover.

The group, which serves 21 communities with its major campuses in Mount Kisco, Katonah, Carmel and Poughkeepsie, has selected technology from Horsham, Pa.-based NextGen, including an electronic health record system, a practice management system and a patient portal.

MKMG was an early adopter of technology and has garnered a long-standing reputation for providing high quality care, MKMG executives said. Its providers generate 420,000 electronic prescriptions annually and began using electronic charts in February 1998.

Through its agreement with NextGen Healthcare, MKMG will implement an integrated platform built on a single database to help better meet its financial and clinical needs, specifically as the organization works to demonstrate meaningful use.

"We determined that our previous EHR solution would not enable us to meet meaningful use criteria, so that factored heavily into our decision when selecting this new technology," said Joe Abate, director of information technology at MKMG. "Not only does NextGen Healthcare offer a proven EHR product that it intends to certify to help organizations like ours meet these criteria, but its practice management and portal technologies also provide the enhanced functionality needed to significantly impact financial efficiency - all through a single database."

NextGen Ambulatory EHR version 5.6 is a CCHIT Certified 2011 Ambulatory EHR, additionally certified for Child Health and Cardiovascular Medicine with Advanced Reporting.

NextGen executives describe the features of the EHR system as including pre-built clinical templates and workflow for more than 26 specialties to help ensure complete, accurate documentation stored in a standard format. Point-and-click technology enables physicians to mimic existing workflow to help eliminate the need for dictation. Disease management templates in NextGen Ambulatory EHR also allow organizations to capture discrete data at the point of care, which is crucial for meeting clinical reporting guidelines for pay-for-performance programs.

NextGen Practice Management offers reporting capabilities that can be leveraged to accurately track quality improvement measures - another key requirement for achieving meaningful use, said Scott Decker, president of NextGen Healthcare. The solution also enables large multi-specialty practices like MKMG to centralize appointment scheduling, billing, collections, and other business processes, while preference settings allow different locations to operate according to their own workflow.
 
NextGen Patient Portal is designed to promote an interactive continuum of care between the patient and practice, facilitating effective electronic communication and clinical data exchange, Decker added. The portal can be used to respond to patient requests for an electronic copy of health information, including diagnostic test results, problem lists, and medication lists and allergies. This level of patient interaction also helps organizations meet the meaningful use criteria for engaging patients and families in their healthcare, he said.