Tufts to Subsidize EHRs

HDM Breaking News, November 3, 2008

The 451-bed Tufts Medical Center in Boston will offer physicians a subsidy to defray a portion of the cost of electronic health records software from eClinicalWorks, Westborough, Mass.

Some 900 employed and independent physicians and 421 residents in the New England Quality Care Alliance Inc., the Tufts network, will be offered both practice management and records software from eClinicalWorks. Tufts also will offer the physicians a patient portal.

Adoption of the software is optional, and the size of the subsidy has not been revealed, a spokesman for  eClinicalWorks says.

Exceptions to the so-called Stark law and I.T. safe harbors to federal anti-kickback statutes enable hospitals to subsidize certain EHR costs for physicians.

In other news, eClinicalWorks has introduced two new products. EClinicalMessenger is a messaging service that uses voice over Internet protocol to enable practices to send messages to patients, such as appointment reminders and test results. eClinicalMobile enables clinicians to access certain functions of the company’s software, such as scheduling and e-prescribing, using a smart phone.

More information is available at eclinicalworks.com.

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