Eclipsys Announces Response To ‘Meaningful Use’ Regulation

Eclipsys Corporation (NASDAQ:ECLP), The Outcomes Company®, today announced its response to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’(CMS) final rule on ‘meaningful use’ of an electronic health records (EHR). Countering opinions describing any criteria to include Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) in 2011 as “too ambitious,” Eclipsys applauds CMS for coming forward to add electronic medication order entry as a requirement for achieving “meaningful use.” According to the final rule regulation, at least 30 percent of patients with a medication order must have that order entered through a CPOE solution. Moreover, in Stage 2 of ‘meaningful use,’ scheduled for 2013, the CPOE medication order requirement doubles to 60 percent. A sole focus on CPOE related to patient medication is a significant change from the interim final rule CPOE requirement of 10 percent of orders, regardless of order type.

“The addition of medication order entry as a requirement will directly support patient safety, clinical decision support and decrease the risk of medication errors that daily impacts the lives and well-being of patients and their families,” said Phil Pead, president and chief executive officer. “What’s important to note is that the landmark Institute of Medicine report, ‘To Err is Human,’ was published 11 years ago, calling for expanded use of CPOE to reduce avoidable medical errors and deaths. The passage of the CMS’ Electronic Health Record Incentive Program is an unprecedented opportunity to move forward the quality and safety of care for all of us. As a leading provider of health care technology, we know meaningful CPOE adoption is achievable and we strongly support this effort to expedite implementing a technology that prevents human errors and has been proven to reduce costs, injuries and deaths.”

In additional response to the ‘meaningful use’ final rule, Eclipsys also supports:

• The retention of quality measures defined by data collected in the EHR vs. quality measures defined based on claims data. This strategy aligns with the company’s commitment to analytics & performance management embedded in workflow of clinicians.
• The inclusion of the emergency department orders in achieving the CPOE 30 percent threshold. It is a realistic approach given the reality of today’s hospital workflow with many patients being admitted through this area of the hospital.

A Client Base That Already Exceeds the CPOE Meaningful Use Threshold

Eclipsys response to fully supporting the 30 percent CPOE requirement is backed by its experience in supporting swift and “deep” CPOE adoption by clients across the nation. The company estimates its U.S. client base has achieved on average a 70 percent CPOE adoption rate. In fact, Eclipsys is noted in the industry as having the most physicians and the highest percentage of its own client base deeply using CPOE, including use to support advancements in complex cancer treatment regimens, reduced medication errors, hospital-acquired conditions and improved perioperative procedures — all of which otherwise present harm to patients and added costs to the nation’s healthcare delivery system. For example, select Eclipsys clients have successfully optimized CPOE to achieve the following outcomes:

• A 69 percent reduction in sepsis-related mortalities;
• A 59.2 percent drop in medication-related errors reaching patients;
• A 1.0 day reduction in length of stay in patients undergoing sternotomy, as well as a 70 percent reduction in mediastinitis infection rate.

Further commenting Pead said, “Hospitals waste millions of dollars every year through inefficient paper processes, which ironically often leave medication errors undetected. The personal experiences shared during this week’s CMS’ live press conference by HHS Secretary Sebelius, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin and Regina Holiday are evidence that the problem of medication errors within our healthcare system is very real, very costly and it is avoidable — especially knowing that Eclipsys clients across the country already are in the position to meet and far exceed the meaningful use provisions both in 2011 and 2013.”