TROY, Mich., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- CareTech Solutions, an information technology (IT) and health information management (HIM) outsourcing provider for hospitals and health systems, announced today that it has initiated the third phase of an implementation of Cerner products intended to support quality initiatives at Crittenton Hospital Medical Center (CHMC) in Rochester, Mich. CHMC fully outsourced its IT services and staffing requirements to CareTech in June of 2003.
“The launch of the third phase of the clinical information system implementation is a significant milepost in our strategic IT plan. By entrusting our information technology goals to CareTech, we’ve been able to use technology to drive innovation in the delivery of quality patient care, which is at the heart of CHMC’s mission,” said Lynn Orfgen, Crittenton Hospital Medical Center’s president and chief executive officer. “CareTech’s team rapidly delivered the first two phases of this implementation, which yielded impressive results including greatly enhanced capabilities, reduced costs and higher patient and clinician satisfaction levels.”
CareTech is leading the third phase of the Cerner implementation, which is a significant initiative for CHMC as the project includes a complete system upgrade, implementation of online order entry in Cerner, increased online documentation and the implementation of Cerner Physician Order Entry (CPOE). The applications will be phased in over the 2005 calendar year.
In the first phase, Crittenton chose to engage CareTech’s resources and implementation experience to reinvigorate a project to bring the radiology, laboratory and pharmacy departments live on the Cerner product. During this phase, CareTech also greatly improved the performance and stability of Crittenton’s picture archiving and communication system (PACS), previously considered unsatisfactory by the CHMC radiology team.
The recently completed second phase involved the roll out of PowerChart, Cerner’s enterprise-wide, multi-facility, multi-entity and longitudinal electronic medical record (EMR), as well as the installation of the Cerner scheduling products. The implementation of the EMR application provided the CHMC clinical team with online access across the medical center to laboratory, radiology, pharmacy and transcribed results. The scheduling project migrated departments that were working on legacy and/or paper-based systems to an automated system that supports a centralized scheduling process.
The implementation process included intensive training for all user groups, including more than 700 CHMC employees, 150 physicians and their office staffs. CareTech’s experience in educating clinical teams and providing customized training tools and a variety of training modalities helped ensure organizational adoption of new applications.
“Crittenton Hospital Medical Center is executing on a strategic vision to utilize state-of-the-art technology to enhance the quality of patient care, while lowering costs,” said Pat Milostan, vice president and chief technology officer for CareTech Solutions. “We look forward to leveraging our expertise with the Cerner product line to significantly increase the speed and lower the cost of this implementation.”
About Crittenton Hospital Medical Center
Serving Oakland County since 1967, Crittenton Hospital Medical Center (Crittenton) is a 290-bed facility located in Rochester/Rochester Hills, Mich. A not-for-profit community hospital, Crittenton is one of Rochester Hills’ largest employers, with a staff of more than 1,600 and more than 500 physicians.
About CareTech Solutions, Inc.
CareTech Solutions, Inc., an IT services and health information management (HIM) outsourcing provider for hospitals and health systems, is committed to creating value for healthcare clients through customized, flexible information technology outsourcing solutions that contribute to improving patient care while lowering healthcare costs.
Based in Troy, Mich., CareTech Solutions offers clients expert services in virtually every facet of information technology from implementing emerging technologies to supporting day-to-day IT operations for hospitals nationally. For more information please visit http://www.caretechsolutions.com/ .
CareTech Solutions, Inc.
CONTACT: Kate Kilponen of Airfoil Public Relations, Inc.,+1-313-887-7212, kilponen@airfoilpr.com , for CareTech Solutions, Inc.; orJody Meehan of CareTech Solutions, Inc., +1-248- 233-3080,jmeehan@cts-mail.com
Web site: http://www.caretechsolutions.com/