Noteworthy Medical Systems to Acquire ChartConnect
CLEVELAND, OH and YAKIMA, WA (Aug. 18, 2008)—Noteworthy Medical Systems, originator of the market's only three-screen ambulatory electronic health record (EHR), announced today that it is acquiring strategic partner ChartConnect, Inc. ChartConnect's web-based applications facilitate communication between care providers and securely allow the exchange and transfer of clinical information between care providers and the various parties who support the provision of care in a community, i.e., laboratories, radiology departments, pharmacies, hospitals, transcription services, etc.
The new company will retain the name Noteworthy Medical Systems and will serve a combined customer base of more than 1,200 practices, 5,700 healthcare providers and 12,000 users across 43 states, with company locations in Cleveland, Ohio; Phoenix, Arizona; Yakima, Washington; and Pocatello, Idaho.
The ChartConnect acquisition follows on the heels of Noteworthy's acquisition of MARS Medical Systems, Inc. (see press release dated August 5, 2008), where Noteworthy acquired one of the most sophisticated web-based practice management applications on the market. Given the MARS and ChartConnect acquisitions, Noteworthy now has a complete application suite to support both the administrative and clinical workflows for ambulatory care in a physician's office, a multi-specialty clinic, or more importantly, ambulatory care for an entire community of providers. ChartConnect currently has 18 communities where its medical hub and community health record are deployed along with other applications. Several of these communities have an 85% provider participation rate.
Both acquisitions signify important tactical unions between Noteworthy and companies with the vision, objectives and target markets to complement the company's strategic direction. Paul Ruflin, Noteworthy's president and COO, describes their two-fold strategy: "First, provide physicians the tools they need to provide quality care and prosper economically; and second, provide communities of providers, hospitals and health systems the connectivity in the ambulatory arena to facilitate quality care and wellness. Our expanded suite of products will serve both of these objectives."
"I'm proud of what ChartConnect has accomplished in its 10-year history. But what can be leveraged through the combined companies' capabilities is one of the most exciting and significant developments in this industry in a long time," stated Greg Jewell, president and co-founder of ChartConnect.
"The exciting thing about this acquisition is that it allows us to expand the scope of our mission to provide busy clinicians a suite of tools that are both easy to learn, and practical to use in an increasingly complex healthcare environment. It allows us to promote better, safer, and more efficient care to more patients while improving the quality of life of healthcare workers," added Victor Sharpe, MD, FACP, co-founder of ChartConnect and the lead designer of the ChartConnect application.
"Noteworthy's opportunity to meet the extensive needs of healthcare providers have expanded exponentially with the addition of the outstanding applications from ChartConnect," said Lawrence Dolin, Noteworthy's chairman of the board and CEO. "More importantly, the much-desired, but as of yet mostly unrealized, goal of clinical providers to be able to readily exchange secure information with one another, with labs, with radiology departments, with pharmacies and with clinicians who use different EHRs is finally reality."
Noteworthy's application suite offers independent physicians, IPAs, RHIOs, hospitals and health care systems—not to mention patients— a turnkey Connected Care solution that facilitates care among care givers in the ambulatory setting. "We are improving the way patient care is delivered and at the same time rehabilitating the reimbursement schedule and the physician's eight-hour work day which has crept to 10 and 15 hour days over the last decade," said Ruflin.
About ChartConnect, Inc.
ChartConnect, Inc., based in Yakima, Washington, provides a comprehensive electronic medical record for physician practices and hospitals nationwide. They are the leader in connecting healthcare communities to build the most easy-to-use online patient records available for patient care, anywhere. ChartConnect allows everyone involved in a patient's care to easily and securely access and share information by integrating with local healthcare providers. ChartConnect offers a complete patient management tool, helping physicians, nurses, and office professionals streamline workflow, save time and money, and improve patient care. ChartConnect, Inc. and its affiliates have provided premier healthcare services—including medical networks, practice management and billing systems—since 1985.
About Noteworthy Medical Systems, Inc.
Noteworthy Medical Systems, Inc., is a privately held company founded in 1997 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. From pre-encounter through post-encounter, Noteworthy offers a complete continuum of products and ultimate profitability tools to meet the needs of practices in ambulatory healthcare. Noteworthy's flagship products NetPracticePM™ and NetPracticeEHR™ combine with the NetTools™ productivity suite, allowing practices to improve patient care, increase gross revenues, speed reimbursement and enhance workflow. Achieve More™ with the industry's most powerful suite of tools from Noteworthy Medical Systems. For more information, call 877.891.8777 or visit www.noteworthymedical.com.
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