CHS introduces the Optic onsite health care solution

Dec 1 2009

Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. (CHS), a leading national workforce health management company specializing in onsite health care solutions, announced today the successful deployment of Optic™, the next iteration of its wireless, paperless technology platform that provides electronic health record and enterprise practice management functionality, predictive modeling, clinical reporting, evidence-based medicine compliance reporting, and advanced financial outcome reporting.

“CHS is committed to innovation, and we continue to invest in useful, practical technology that assists large employers in determining what onsite program works best for them and how to accurately measure the performance of these programs,” CHS Executive Vice President, Stuart Clark stated. “This is not about who has the fanciest EMR. This is about improving provider efficiency, delivering higher quality care consistently, measuring provider and patient behavior, reporting validated clinical and financial outcomes, and using limited data to predictively model the employer’s disease landscape. Our ongoing investment into our people and into the business is unique and speaks for itself.” Clark said.

Arun Villivalam, CHS associate medical director and chief medical information officer stated, “Optic™ raises the standard for onsite patient care ranging from customized, evidence-based medicine templates and e-prescriptions to automatic health maintenance reminders, laboratory order entry and results reporting. The ability to integrate onsite clinical activity with the clinical documentation and activity by outside providers is a major advancement in functionality.”

Building on the success of CHS’ HybridHealth^SM onsite health model, the new Optic digital solution emphasizes prevention and patient safety while achieving new levels of integration.

Optic™ is a multi-functional technology solution that offers highly integrated electronic medical record (EMR) and enterprise practice management (EPM) functionality; EMR/EPM integration with the customer’s health plan and pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company; laboratory and various other diagnostic interfaces; a patient portal; e-prescribing; provider dispensing; an embedded Health Risk Assessment tool; predictive modeling; and warehousing, data analytics and highly customized reporting.

Of key importance, Optic™ delivers a new level of integration between onsite and community providers and health care stakeholders. Given proper permissions and compliance with HIPAA privacy standards, the new platform can link a patient’s onsite medical record, health risk assessment and biometric screening results, health plan information, PBM data and disease management care plan information.

Featuring wireless tablets in paperless onsite medical clinics, the Optic™ platform provides a single access point to a patient’s complete electronic medical record, including e-prescriptions, laboratory results, referral management, appointment scheduling, health education materials and billing information.

Best-in-class technology partners were selected to fulfill various aspects of Optic™, to include leading academic institutions and award-winning health care information technology companies.

Embedded into CHS’ Optic™ solution is the award-winning EMR system by NextGen™, a 2008 recipient of the Microsoft Healthcare Users Group Annual Innovation Award for disease surveillance honoring breakthrough contributions by health care organizations to contain costs and improve patient care.

Further, the Optic™ system also includes robust data warehousing and predictive modeling capabilities resulting from a two-year research project sponsored by CHS with the Health Systems Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. The result is CHS’ Workforce Health Assessment Model that identifies company-specific, cost-effective strategies that reduce long-term health risks and workforce health costs while improving productivity.

In addition to these advancements in patient-centered treatment at onsite health centers, CHS’ Optic™ system improves business intelligence by streamlining reporting functions while assuring patient privacy. Optic™ monitors the performance of an onsite clinic by measuring its return on investment and its efficacy in improving disease management. The new platform commands the ability to bring integrated solutions to workforce health issues that are not easily overcome by a single source.