WORCESTER, MA – UMass Memorial Health Care is deploying a new electronic health record and patient management solution to further its goals of improved patient care.

The Worcester, Mass.-based health system is implementing the Allscripts Electronic Health Record and Practice Management solution in order to provide its 2,000 affiliated physicians access to digital records.

"UMass Memorial feels it is crucial that we partner with our private practice colleagues to help them implement EHRs and qualify for the stimulus incentives," said William Corbett, MD, vice president of community practices for UMass Memorial Health Care and clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. "Our goal is to be as interconnected as possible so we can provide the very best care to our patients.”

Officials said the implementation is also in response to the federal HITECH Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. They said the health system wants its physicians to be in a good position to take advantage of stimulus money included in the federal plan to promote the use of IT in healthcare and the adoption of EMRs.

UMass Memorial will integrate the Allscripts EHR and Patient Management solution with its other information systems to provide electronic orders and results as an integral part of the solution. UMass officials said this is designed to reduce errors and improve efficiency at participating practices.

The health system also plans to integrate the EHR solution with its virtual patient record from dbMotion. This platform collects, harmonizes, and stores patient clinical information from all the different information systems across the enterprise. UMass officials said this will enable physicians to access a comprehensive view of all data available about a patient, bridging gaps that often exist between hospital-based and office-based care.

Close to 400 physician members of UMass Memorial have access to the EHR solution.

UMass Memorial is the clinical partner of University of Massachusetts Medical School and the largest healthcare system in central and western Massachusetts. The system includes UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and four community hospitals: Clinton Hospital in Clinton, HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster and Fitchburg, Marlborough Hospital in Marlborough and Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer.