SAN MATEO, Calif., March 30, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Epocrates, Inc. (Nasdaq:EPOC), today announced its mobile and web-based electronic health record (EHR) solution has entered beta and is now being tested by solo and small group physician offices across the country. The company also announced an agreement with Nuance Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:NUAN) to leverage the Nuance Healthcare Development Platform (NHDP) to integrate Nuance's cloud-based, medical speech recognition technology as a component of its Epocrates EHR™ solution.
"The beta installations and Nuance agreement are two significant milestones on our EHR development roadmap," said Rose Crane, president and chief executive officer of Epocrates. "Solo and small group physician practices have specific EHR needs that are going unmet. Collaborating with them through this beta period allows us to refine the product so it provides the best user experience."
The family practitioner offices participating in the closed beta have the opportunity to experience the flexibility of Epocrates' EHR system. Features in the beta include built-in workflow and clinical templates for specific procedures. A feature that is planned for a future EHR version is SpeechAnywhere, integrated Nuance medical speech recognition technology, which will empower medical professionals to create medical reports - anytime, anywhere (in exam rooms, offices, labs or in the field) and on any device (desktop, iPhone®, iPad®, etc.) via voice input. Physicians will benefit from the flexibility in creating clinical documentation and will gain clinical efficiency from the immediate availability of clinical notes, leading to faster, higher quality patient care.
"I have looked at many different EHR systems, but didn't have a lot of time to spend learning new software and implementing it into my practice. I've always valued Epocrates and the fact that its products don't require me to change the way I work. The new EHR and the company's first class support staff make for an easy, smooth, non-intimidating transition from paper-based to electronic records," said Dr. Bradley Stoltz, DO, family practitioner, Trevose, Pa.
The Epocrates web and mobile EHR solution is built from the physicians' perspective and incorporates input from the company's network of more than 315,000 physicians. It is specifically designed to serve the more than 50 percent of U.S. physicians who work in solo and small group practices. It features Epocrates' gold-standard drug and safety content and addresses physicians' requirements for an EHR solution that is:
- Easy to learn and use with minimal practice disruption;
- Accessible at the point of care and on demand for convenient patient data entry; and
- Affordable via a web-hosted, customizable offering that avoids costly hardware investments and lengthy start-up time, as well as meets HIPAA compliance requirements.
"Epocrates' front forward innovation with the cloud and mobility as key components of their physician tailored EHR will help physicians create and use high-quality clinical documentation better and smarter than ever before," said Janet Dillione, executive vice president and general manager, Nuance Healthcare. "The Nuance Healthcare Development Platform will help Epocrates deliver SpeechAnywhere capabilities, allowing physicians to document in the oftentimes most preferred, intuitive and effective way, via dictation."
Physicians interested in a video demo of the beta EHR solution may visit Epocrates' booth (Booth # 527) at the American College of Physicians 2011 Internal Medicine Conference in San Diego on April 7-9, 2011.
ABOUT EPOCRATES
Epocrates is a leading provider of mobile drug reference tools to healthcare professionals and interactive services to the healthcare industry. Epocrates' active user network currently has more than 1.3 million healthcare professionals, including more than 45 percent of U.S. physicians. Most commonly used on mobile devices at the point of care, the company's clinical products and services help healthcare professionals make more informed prescribing decisions, enhance patient safety and improve practice productivity. For more information about Epocrates, please visit www.epocrates.com/company.
Epocrates and Epocrates EHR are trademarks of Epocrates, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks and trade names referred to in this press release are the property of their respective owners.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon the company's current expectations. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including, risks detailed in Epocrates' filings with, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including in Epocrates' registration statement on Form S-1 dated February 1, 2011. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Epocrates does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, changed assumptions or otherwise.