FORT WAYNE, IN – Medical Informatics Engineering (MIE) today announced a formal collaboration with the American College of Cardiology (ACC) to promote <a href="/directory/electronic-health-record-ehr" target="_blank" class="directory-item-link">electronic health record products with integrated PINNACLE Registry functionality.  The WebChart EHR from MIE is the only electronic health record system to offer this level of natively integrated functionality to cardiology practices in the U.S.
 
The ACC recently launched its PINNACLE Registry, the nation's first national office-based quality improvement data registry, to help cardiology practices collect, store and use patient data.  As cardiologists document patient encounters in the WebChart EHR, relevant data populates an electronic version of the PINNACLE Registry data collection form, eliminating the need for dual data entry and unnecessary clicks.  Electronic data is then transmitted from WebChart to the ACC, where it automatically populates the PINNACLE Registry. 
 
“Innovative products like the WebChart EHR will help cardiologists improve office visits, coordinate care and generate performance reports for quality improvement and Pay-for-Performance programs,” said Jack Lewin, MD and CEO of ACC.   “We chose to work with MIE on this initiative because the company was able to tailor its WebChart system specifically for cardiology practices, and they have been extremely agile and responsive as they have worked with the ACC and its members to build quality measure capture and reporting into established clinical workflow.”
 
The ACC will promote the MIE Minimally InvasiveTM EHR portfolio to its members, encouraging the adoption of web-based EHR and PHR/patient portal systems that incorporate PINNACLE Registry technology.
 
“The American College of Cardiology is leading the way to optimal cardiovascular care and disease prevention and we are proud that they selected MIE to help promote EHR adoption among cardiology groups,” said Doug Horner, founder and CEO of MIE.  “We have a track record of incorporating cardiology specific modules such as cardiovascular PQRI reporting and Coumadin tracking into our EHR offering, and the integration of PINNACLE Registry functionality can help cardiologists meet quality reporting and registry reporting requirements that are part of ARRA meaningful use guidelines.”
 
One example of a practice utilizing WebChart EHR with PINNACLE Registry Functionality is Indiana-based Fort Wayne Cardiology.  With 22 physicians, Fort Wayne Cardiology was the first practice in the U.S. to electronically capture and report patient data to the PINNACLE Registry.   “Our office was already paperless with a fully functioning EMR and we were spending large amounts of time submitting hard copy paperwork to the ACC.  It’s like we were working backwards,” said Mike Mirro, MD at Fort Wayne Cardiology.  “We worked with our EMR vendor, MIE, to integrate the PINNACLE Registry data form into our existing workflow.  Now all of our patient data and quality reporting is electronically captured and transmitted directly to the ACC.”