Physician IT

Clinicare passes the test in Manitoba

CALGARY – Clinicare Corp. announced that it has passed conformance testing requirements in Manitoba and is now an “Approved EMR (Electronic Medical Records) Vendor” for both Local and ASP configurations. As part of this process, Clinicare has also executed a Master Standing Agreement with the Province.

The Manitoba EMR qualification process was intended to address the needs of all physicians and their practices (both family physicians and specialists) that provide care in the community, as well as other primary healthcare clinics.

The EMR will become a vital tool to connect physicians in the community electronically to the rest of the health system. Manitoba eHealth has established the Primary Care Information Systems (PCIS) office to assist physicians and clinics in acquiring an EMR that will meet their needs.

In June, QHR Technologies Inc. announced that its electronic medical records (EMR) division, Optimed had achieved ‘Approved EMR Vendor’ status by Manitoba eHealth. Optimed’s Accuro EMR was the first solution to complete the provincial conformance testing to verify that it meets all core requirements of Manitoba, including contractual arrangements of the RFQ process, to provide Manitoba primary care providers and community physicians with a set of approved EMRs.

Two other solutions, from Jonoke and Med Access, are also being tested.

For its part, Clinicare has established itself as a national leader in providing electronic health solutions based around its EMR software, interface development, and is at the forefront of electronic prescription deployment.

Clinicare will be working with Manitoba eHealth on an ongoing basis to provide the functionality needed to participate in initiatives like the Physician Integrated Network (PIN) and to integrate effectively with the emerging Electronic Health Record (EHR) in order to access lab results, drug history, diagnostic imaging results, etc.

This will mean improved productivity and interoperability for the family practitioner as well as for specialists. It should be noted that future EMR purchases by Regional Health Authorities will only be made from an Approved EMR Vendor.

“As in any business relationship, you have to trust whoever you’re in a partnership with, and I trust Clinicare fully. I not only trust them when negotiating a quote but I also trust them to deliver on that quote, provide the training, implement the system, and deliver ongoing support services - support is critical,” said Tom Malone, CEO of The Winnipeg Clinic after installing Clinicare EMR in 2006. The Winnipeg Clinic went on to receive the Canadian Information Productivity Award (CIPA) for “Organizational Transformation”.

According to Karim Kanji, President of Clinicare, “We are building on our successful 25 year history of business process experience and know-how in Canada. We have established a dominant position in this critical marketplace and have a very satisfied and loyal following in Manitoba. Many practices, including the Winnipeg and Manitoba clinics, have remained customers partly because of our proven corporate capacity and financial viability. We are proud to have our customers consider us partners and rely on our best in class knowledge base and service. Our customers choose us for the scope and depth of our organization and the workflow capabilities in our competitive product offering - they stay with us for the service we provide.”

About Clinicare
Clinicare Corporation (www.clinicare.com) has specialized in software development for the ambulatory physician market since 1984. Clinicare is Canada’s leading provider of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Practice Management Applications (PMA). Clinicare’s EMR has been rated as one of the Top 3 EMRs in North America for the past 6 consecutive years by the prestigious IT consulting firm - KLAS Enterprises. Clinicare has also been recognized in recent years by the Canadian Health Informatics Association by being bestowed the “Company of the Year”, “Corporate Citizen of the Year” and “Healthcare Transformation of the Year” Awards. Clinicare is the only vendor to have received this recognition. Clinicare has branch offices in the United States and Canada, with its Head Office in Calgary, Alberta.

Posted July 16/09.