Sage Healthcare Division Announces Sponsorship of Medical Economics Study Tracking Primary Care EHR Rollouts

TAMPA, FL--(Marketwire - Oct 27, 2011) - Sage Healthcare Division announced today that it has partnered with Medical Economics -- the profession's number one resource of medical, business and practice information for primary care physicians and their practices -- to launch the Medical Economics EHR Study, a peer-to-peer exchange of best practices focusing entirely on the electronic health record (EHR) user experience.

Beginning in 2012, Sage Healthcare Division will join 10 other EHR vendors in providing 44 representative primary care practices from across the U.S. with fully functional EHRs to test and use for two years. The practices receive installation, training and support necessary for them to adopt the technology into their practices -- and to attest to Meaningful Use -- free of charge.

In exchange, these physicians have agreed to provide metrics and feedback about their experiences, which Medical Economics will share with its audience of more than 175,000 primary care physicians in print and online to help them benchmark their own EHR experiences, and to learn from their peers.

"The purpose of the EHR study is to take a representative sample of EHRs -- some server-based, some Web-based and some stand-alone -- and sort out all their details for you," says George G. Ellis Jr., MD, FACP, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), and a founding member of the EHR Study Group. "Our goal is to help take the guesswork out of buying/leasing an EHR."

Dr. Ellis has more than 20 years' experience using EHRs and practice management software.

For many practices, despite information in medical journals and magazines, such as Medical Economics, webinars and medical society presentations, there's still uncertainty about what is required to implement an EHR, how it will affect a practice, how it impacts a physician's quality-of-life and how it changes interactions with patients.

The information provided through this study will permit doctors and their practices, their business and office managers to make informed decisions on whether it makes sense to implement an EHR.

"By participating in this study, which is a valuable resource that can be used by all physicians, we'll be able to showcase the value and importance of EHRs and how they can improve practice efficiency and health outcomes," said Betty Otter-Nickerson, president of the Sage Healthcare Division. "A first-of-its-kind research project, the insights gained and the feedback from participants will help drive us further to the forefront of the market and further provide solutions that our physician peers demand."

Sage has one of the largest U.S. ambulatory physician practice footprints among software solution providers in the market, providing ambulatory clinical and financial solutions to healthcare systems for 30 years, serving more than 400,000 healthcare professionals including 80,000 physicians in the United States. Each year, Sage clinical physician partners accommodate more than 133 million patient visits in their practices. Since 2011, Sage has helped its physician clients earn more than $1 million in federal Meaningful Use incentives.

Medical Economics, published by Advanstar Medical Communications Group, is the leading business resource for office based physicians, providing the expert advice and shared experiences doctors need to successfully meet today's challenges in practice management, patient relations, malpractice, electronics health records, career, and personal finance. Medical Economics provides the nonclinical education doctors don't get in medical school.

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About Sage Healthcare Division
Sage Healthcare Division provides end-to-end clinical and financial technology solutions so physicians and medical professionals can work with patients instead of paperwork. Serving more than 400,000 healthcare professionals including 80,000 physicians, Sage Healthcare Division provides electronic health records and practice management systems, processes 33 million transactions and 1.3 million e-prescriptions monthly, and serves several specialties including primary care, OB/GYN, pediatrics, cardiology and orthopedics in all sized practices and Community Health Centers. Physician-focused and patient centric, Sage Healthcare Division is based in Tampa, Fla., and is a division of Sage North America. For more information, visit www.sagehealth.com or call (877) 932-6301. Follow Sage Healthcare Division on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/SageHealthcare, and Twitter, http://twitter.com/#!/sagehealthcare.

About Advanstar
Advanstar Communications Inc. (www.advanstar.com) is a leading worldwide media company providing integrated marketing solutions for the automotive, dental, fashion, healthcare, licensing, pharmaceutical, power sports and veterinary industries. Advanstar serves business professionals and consumers in these industries with its portfolio of 143 events, 54 publications and directories, 253 electronic products and websites, as well as educational and direct marketing products and services. Market leading brands -- and a commitment to delivering innovative, quality products and services -- enables Advanstar to "Connect Our Customers with Theirs." Advanstar has approximately 600 employees and currently operates from multiple offices in North America and Europe.

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