[February 28, 2013]

Shands HealthCare Integrating Epic EHR with QuadraMed Acuity-based Staffing System

QuadraMed Corporation is currently working with Shands HealthCare at the University of Florida in Gainesville to complete the integration of QuadraMed's AcuityPlus nurse resource management system with the Epic EHR system installed at Shands. The proof of concept phase is complete, and the project is expected to enter production in April.

"It is critical for us to have a reliable and powerful method to identify nurse staffing levels that directly relate to our workload. This will help us match our staffing with patient care needs to achieve better outcomes for patients. The integration between our Epic EHR and QuadraMed AcuityPlus will be pivotal to achieving our goals," said Irene Alexatis, vice president of nursing and patient services at Shands. "As part of this integration, patient acuity information will be generated from nursing documentation of care. The patient data will flow from our Epic EHR to the AcuityPlus system using our interface, enabling, among other things, detailed transparent classification of patients. Additionally, our nurses will no longer need to perform the time-consuming task of patient classification."

When the project is completed, AcuityPlus will have been successfully integrated by healthcare organizations using five different vendors' electronic health record systems. "QuadraMed has long been recognized for our ability to develop products that seamlessly integrate with other vendors' systems," said Mike Myers, QuadraMed vice present for enterprise product strategy. "AcuityPlus is a prime example. Upon comletion of the project at Shands HealthCare, Epic will be added to the list of vendors we integrate with, which includes Cerner (News - Alert), McKesson (Paragon), Allscripts, and Meditech."

The importance of effective nurse staffing levels to properly manage actual workload is proving critical for better care. Instead of basing the need simply on the number of nurses as compared to the patient population, factors such as the complexity of care required for each patient must be taken into consideration. Therefore, more detailed data must be provided to nurse executives and managers. AcuityPlus users can look at daily data to determine the fluctuation in both outcomes and staffing, thereby really seeing what causes variations in many nurse-sensitive outcomes. This enables hospitals to staff to meet their workload, which results in better outcomes.

For more information about QuadraMed, visit www.quadramed.com or visit the QuadraMed booth (#4141) at HIMSS13 March 3-7, 2013, in New Orleans.

QuadraMed will join Northeast Georgia Health System to present "Building and Applying a Better Nurse Staffing to Outcomes Model" at HIMSS13 in New Orleans. Join Nancy Barton, MSN, RN and Ken Colbert, QuadraMed senior research analyst for Acuity Plus for Education Session 33, scheduled for March 4 at 11:00 a.m. in room 291 of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

About QuadraMed Corporation

QuadraMed^® is a leading provider of award-winning healthcare technologies and services that improve the safety, quality and efficiency of patient care. Founded in 1993, QuadraMed provides proven, flexible solutions that help make our clients successful by streamlining processes, increasing productivity, improving patient outcomes and driving positive patient outcomes. Behind the Company's products and services is a staff of 475 professionals who support clients at over 1,200 healthcare facilities. For information about QuadraMed, visit www.quadramed.com.

QuadraMed and AcuityPlus are registered trademarks of QuadraMed Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]