Regional Medical Imaging Receives Significant Stimulus Incentive; One of the First Radiology Practices in the Country to Achieve MU
CHICAGO, March 26, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Merge Healthcare (Nasdaq:MRGE), a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, announced today that Regional Medical Imaging (RMI), based in Flint, MI, became its first radiology client to successfully comply with CMS’ federal ambulatory Meaningful Use regulations and receive stimulus incentives totaling $216,000, representing approximately one-third of the total incentives they expect to receive under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“For RMI, there is a strong business case for Meaningful Use, but what’s more important is that this is going to help us become better physicians so that our patients get better care,” said Randy Hicks, MD, MBA, CEO of RMI. “With Merge RIS™ we’ll witness better and more prompt access to medical records, less redundant testing and ultimately fewer medical errors across our five locations in Michigan.”
“And while we were early adopters of MU, we knew it was about more than just collecting and reporting on data,” continued Hicks. “It’s about building an infrastructure that will enable continuity of care and a seamless transfer of patient information.”
“Regional Medical Imaging is an organization that is doing what it takes to move healthcare forward,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. “They are pioneers who very early on realized Meaningful Use does apply to radiology and that there is inherent value that comes from adopting a Meaningful Use strategy. More importantly, RMI took the necessary steps to achieve it. We congratulate RMI and look forward to continuing our partnership with them as they provide state-of-the-art imaging to doctors and patients across Michigan.”
Merge RIS v7.0 provides a radiology-specific EHR with complete MU certification. It enables radiologists to capture and report on the metrics required to demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health records without disrupting their traditional workflow. With Merge RIS v7.0, radiologists can qualify to receive up to $44,000 in stimulus incentives, per eligible provider, as well as avoid future penalties that will come from not meeting Meaningful Use.
Merge RIS v7.0 functionality includes enhanced data security, expanded reporting that enables physicians to automatically trend clinical data and report on Meaningful Use measures, new clinical decision support, the clinical exchange of health information through industry standard formats, ePrescribing, and a patient portal that empowers patients to access their records at their convenience. This new functionality was built natively within the intuitive, web-based Merge RIS so that any radiology practice can achieve Meaningful Use attestation in a manner that works for their specialty. Merge RIS is a key element of an overall suite of integrated solutions built specifically for imaging providers.
About Merge Healthcare
Merge Healthcare is a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions. Merge solutions facilitate the sharing of images to create a more effective and efficient electronic healthcare experience for patients and physicians. Merge provides enterprise imaging solutions for radiology, cardiology, orthopaedics and eye care; electronic health record and practice management solutions for image-intensive specialties; a suite of products for clinical trials; software for financial and pre-surgical management; applications that fuel the largest modality vendors in the world, and a network of patient-centric, wellness stations. Merge’s products have been used by healthcare providers, vendors and researchers worldwide to improve patient care for more than 20 years. For more information, visit www.merge.com.
About RMI
RMI began in 1985 as a private, outpatient-based imaging facility with a goal of offering patients an alternative to hospitals for radiology services. Today, RMI continues its commitment of providing state-of-the-art equipment in a patient-friendly atmosphere at its offices in Flint, Fenton, Grand Blanc and Davison. For more information, visit www.rmipc.net.
