eHealth Ontario and OntarioMD partner to implement the "EMR Adoption Program"

Oct 29 2009

Program Available to Practice-Based General Practitioners and Specialists

Nightingale Informatix Corporation ("Nightingale" or the "Company") (TSX-V: NGH), an application service provider (ASP) of electronic medical record (EMR) software and related services, is pleased to report that the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) announced to its physician members that it has successfully negotiated $236 million in funding with the government of Ontario to advance the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) among practice-based family physicians and specialists in the province.

A letter issued on October 27, 2009 to Ontario physicians from the President of the OMA stated that:

Under a new program, eHealth Ontario will partner with OMA subsidiary OntarioMD to implement the "EMR Adoption Program." With support and investment of approximately $236 million from eHealth Ontario, the new program will broaden and accelerate physician adoption of EMRs over the next three years. This means EMRs will be accessible to more physicians, allowing them to leverage information technology to improve patient care and practice efficiency. The previous Primary Care IT Program provided funding to 3,300 family physicians for EMRs in Ontario. The new EMR Adoption Program will see this number increase by 5,700, to a total of 9,000 physicians, with the ability to provide 10 million Ontarians with an electronic medical record by 2012. All practice-based primary care physicians and, for the first time, specialists are eligible for the program. The program will provide both one-time and monthly funding, as well as transition and adoption support services. Early EMR adopters, who helped expand and evolve the program, are also eligible for a monthly subsidy in order to upgrade their EMRs to the latest certified specification.

The new funding program stipulates that all physicians operating in practices of less than three physicians will qualify for funding if they use a certified Application Service Provider solution (ASP) hosted at eHealth Ontario.

In 2008, Nightingale was selected as one of only three certified and funding eligible ASP EMR systems in Ontario. This followed an open Request for Proposal (RFP) and extensive evaluation process conducted by OntarioMD. Subsequently, Nightingale entered into a 15-year agreement with eHealth Ontario for the provisioning and hosting of the company's EMR system and making it available to funded Ontario physicians.

"This program and financial commitment from the Ontario Government are much needed catalysts for driving adoption of EMR and for creating a tangible mainstream market in Ontario," said Sam Chebib, President and CEO of Nightingale. "Nightingale is well positioned to take advantage of these developments and has been preparing its technology, sales and implementation resources to capture our share of that market. It is excellent news for Ontario physicians and patients, and an important step towards improving the province's healthcare system.

OntarioMD will begin accepting applications for funding on November 2nd, 2009. The program runs until March 31, 2012. More information is available at www.ontariomd.ca.