NextGen Joins AMA Online Platform

The American Medical Association's new Web platform for physicians, launching in early 2011 and designed to offer one-stop access to a variety of hosted information technologies, will include the ambulatory practice management and electronic health records software of NextGen Healthcare Information Systems.

Horsham, Pa.-based NextGen is the latest vendor to make its services available via the AMA Online Platform, designed to ease physician adoption of I.T. by reducing the costs and complexities of purchasing systems, while supporting compliance with meaningful use requirements. Physicians aligned with the Michigan State Medical Society are testing the platform. Other vendors offering services on the platform include:

* Voltage Security Inc. for secure e-mail;

* The Covisint unit of Compuware Corp. for the core single-sign-on platform;

* Dell Inc. for computers and hardware;

* Ingenix Inc. for its CareTracker electronic health records system;

* Dr. First and Allscripts for electronic prescribing;

* Isabel Healthcare for diagnostic decision support;

* LifePoint Informatics for clinical order entry and results reporting; and

* Microsoft HealthVault to enable physicians to access personal health records data with patient consent.

--Joseph Goedert