Merge Healthcare Announces First Radiology Client to Achieve Meaningful Use

March 28, 2012 - Merge Healthcare, a provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, announced that Regional Medical Imaging (RMI), based in Flint, MI, became its first radiology client to successfully comply with CMS' federal ambulatory Meaningful Use regulations and receive stimulus incentives totaling $216,000, representing approximately one-third of the total incentives they expect to receive under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

"For RMI, there is a strong business case for Meaningful Use, but what's more important is that this is going to help us become better physicians so that our patients get better care," said Randy Hicks, MD, MBA, CEO of RMI. "With Merge RIS™ we'll witness better and more prompt access to medical records, less redundant testing and ultimately fewer medical errors across our five locations in Michigan."

"And while we were early adopters of MU, we knew it was about more than just collecting and reporting on data," continued Hicks. "It's about building an infrastructure that will enable continuity of care and a seamless transfer of patient information."

Merge RIS v7.0 provides a radiology-specific EHR with complete MU certification. It enables radiologists to capture and report on the metrics required to demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health records without disrupting their traditional workflow. With Merge RIS v7.0, radiologists can qualify to receive up to $44,000 in stimulus incentives, per eligible provider, as well as avoid future penalties that will come from not meeting Meaningful Use.

Merge RIS v7.0 functionality includes enhanced data security, expanded reporting that enables physicians to automatically trend clinical data and report on Meaningful Use measures, new clinical decision support, the clinical exchange of health information through industry standard formats, ePrescribing, and a patient portal that empowers patients to access their records at their convenience. This new functionality was built natively within the intuitive, web-based Merge RIS so that any radiology practice can achieve Meaningful Use attestation in a manner that works for their specialty. Merge RIS is a key element of an overall suite of integrated solutions built specifically for imaging providers.

For more information: www.merge.com