Payer, Provider, Vendors Team for MU

Blues plan Highmark Inc., delivery system West Penn Allegheny Health System, vendor Allscripts and consultancy Accenture have created a package of services to assist physicians in Western Pennsylvania to become meaningful users of electronic health records.

West Penn Allegheny is upgrading the Allscripts' MyWay practice management/EHR software used by its 600 employed physicians to the meaningful use-certified version. It also will offer the certified software to 1,200 affiliated physicians, along with consulting services from Accenture. The delivery system's five hospitals are using or will migrate to Allscripts' Eclipsys hospital clinical information system.

Highmark will use its databases to help identify and channel resources to independent physicians to assist in meeting meaningful use and its own incentive programs.

The MyWay software will be locally hosted, but whether Allscripts or West Penn does the hosting has not been determined. The packaged services do not include explicit discounts for the software for affiliated physicians, but West Penn anticipates making the technology available in volume may reduce costs.