Community Care Physicians, P.C. Announced as Finalist for HIMSS National Davies Awards for EHR Excellence

LATHAM, NY (06/22/2011)(readMedia)-- Community Care Physicians, PC, the largest multispecialty medical group in the Capital Region, has earned the position of finalist for the 2011 HIMSS Ambulatory Care Davies Award of Excellence. Community Care Physicians is one of four finalists across the country named for leveraging efficiencies of the electronic health record, or EHR. HIMSS, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, is a company that collects and analyzes healthcare data related to IT processes and environments. Since 1994 this award has recognized and honored healthcare organizations for successful implementation of health information technology systems as well as a proven ability to derive value in the form of improved patient care.

"We are proud to be among an elite group of medical organizations across the country to be recognized by HIMSS," said Dr. Barbara Morris, Chief Medical Officer for Community Care Physicians, PC. "Community Care Physicians continues to recognize the benefits of implementing technology to improve patient care, safety and efficiency."

This latest recognition follows additional acknowledgements for Community Care Physicians and participation in the development and early adoption of healthcare IT: Allscripts™, the nation's leading provider of clinical software, connectivity and information solutions, named Community Care Physicians a "best practice" user of the Touchworks Electronic Health Record (EHR); Community Care Physicians worked with healthcare IT developers as advanced testers and contributed to development of healthcare products, most publicly remote access to the EHR through the iPhone and iPad; members of the Community Care medical community and EMR/IT team were frequently invited to share their expertise in health IT through lectures, locally and nationally; Community Care Physicians was even referenced in testimony before Congress around IT in healthcare.

Community Care Physicians began implementation of the Allscripts™ Enterprise electronic health record system in 2005. All Community Care offices across the four counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady are live on this system. With over 35 offices and more than 200 providers, Community Care Physicians was the first and largest multispecialty practice to use the EHR in the Capital District.

With the electronic health record, Community Care Physicians has experienced decreased chart pulls, lower costs associates with routine tasks and transcription, and the ability to recapture space once filled with paper charts. The medical group also worked one-on-one with the state to develop an interface that can automatically dump data into state mandated immunization registries.

Community Care Physicians is also one of the founding board members of Health Information Xchange New York (HIXNY), and has been contributing data to its Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) for 18 months. HIXNY is comprised of health care providers and insurers throughout the Greater Capital District and upstate New York. Members of HIXNY partner to improve the health of the community by mobilizing medical information for the benefit of patients that the member organizations serve.

"This is recognition of our expertise and pioneering leadership in the field of EHR," said Dr. Morris. "Community Care Physicians will continue to evaluate and leverage new technologies to improve patient care in the Capital Region."

The next step in the award process includes a site visit team observing Community Care Physicians' workflow and system use by various providers. Winners of the Davies Award will be selected by a committee who will vote following completion of the site visit. The winners will be announced in September.

About Community Care Physicians, P.C.

Community Care Physicians, P.C. is a multi-specialty medical group with over 35 practices. Spanning across Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties of the Capital Region, Community Care Physicians offers 19 different specialty services, including Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatric Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, ImageCare Medical Imaging, Image Guided Radiation Therapy, Interventional Radiology, General Surgery, Urology, Physical Therapy, Podiatry, Urgent Care, Laboratory, Audiology, Dermatology, Diabetes Education and Nutrition, Occupational Medicine, Business Care, Wellness, and Aesthetic Laser. For more information visit www.communitycare.com.

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Contact Alexis Musto, Marketing Manager at Community Care Physicians, PC, for more information by phone at 518-213-0322, by email at amusto@communitycare.com, or by fax at 518-782-3798.