CommonWell Health Alliance Welcomes New Members CPSI and Sunquest to Support and Advance Interoperability Initiatives

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CommonWell Health Alliance today announced that Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPSI) and Sunquest Information Systems have joined as the newest members of the organization. They join members Allscripts, athenahealth, Cerner, Greenway Medical Technologies and McKesson and service provider RelayHealth in the Alliance's work.

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CommonWell Health Alliance is a collaborative effort of health information technology suppliers that are focused on achieving interoperability and data liquidity between systems, in compliance with patient authorizations. The Alliance will define, promote and certify a national infrastructure with common platforms and policies. It also will ensure that Health IT products displaying the Alliance seal are certified to work on the national infrastructure.

"We're glad to be part of CommonWell Health Alliance to achieve data liquidity as a critical foundation for delivering better-coordinated, more-effective care," said CPSI President and Chief Executive Officer Boyd Douglas. "Our experience as one of the leading providers in electronic health record systems to rural, community and critical access hospitals ensures that this important segment of the health care system is represented in CommonWell's interoperability efforts."

CPSI has 34 years of experience in the rural and community hospital setting. The company implements and supports the CPSI EHR System in more than 650 rural and community hospitals across the nation.

"Sunquest is proud to be a member of CommonWell Health Alliance and excited to be part of this movement to achieve interoperability and data liquidity," said Richard Atkin, President of Sunquest. "Lack of interoperability across laboratories, hospitals and ambulatory offices and difficulty in patient matching during that effort threatens the physical health of our population and impairs the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system."

Sunquest is the first member of the Alliance that is solely dedicated to health information technology services specific to laboratory and diagnostic facilities; the company works with 37 percent of hospitals in the United States. Today, laboratory results play a significant role in the medical treatments clinicians choose, with more than 70 percent of diagnostic decisions relying on these results.

"We're excited to have CPSI and Sunquest as the next members of our Alliance," said Tee Green, president and chief executive officer of Greenway, a founding member of CommonWell. "Health IT providers are best positioned to achieve interoperability by collaborating in ways that can eliminate care inefficiencies and unnecessary costs caused by health data fragmentation. The industry must transform the current segregated and stifled health data landscape into one that creates universal access to relevant consumer information to better coordinate care and improve population health."

CPSI and Sunquest join the Alliance on the heels of CommonWell's latest member summit last week, where member companies continued to establish its governance structure, IT standards, develop its services and plan its upcoming 2013 pilot program. More information on these efforts will be made available within the coming months.

About CommonWell Health Alliance
CommonWell Health Alliance is anticipated to be an independent not-for-profit trade association of health IT companies that will work together to create universal access to health care data. The Alliance will be open to all health information technology providers who are committed to making patient's data available to themselves and providers regardless of where care occurs. Alliance members will support the belief that provider access to this data must be built into health information technologies at a reasonable cost for use by a broad range of health care providers and the populations and people they serve.

To learn more about the CommonWell Health Alliance, please visit www.commonwellalliance.org, and read CommonWell Community blog. Also follow CommonWell on Twitter at @CommonWell and like the Alliance's Facebook page.

About Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. (CPSI)
CPSI is a leading provider of electronic health records systems for more than 650 community, rural and critical access hospitals and their 12,000 providers. Founded in 1979, the company is dedicated to meeting the ever-changing needs of health IT, while optimizing the quality of care for communities in 45 states and the District of Columbia. CPSI provides a complete information and patient care system from business office to bedside combined with comprehensive implementation, training and ongoing support from our staff of more than 1,400 healthcare and business professionals. CPSI's wholly owned subsidiary, TruBridge, focuses exclusively on providing business office, consulting and managed IT services to rural and community healthcare organizations, regardless of their IT vendor. To join the conversation with CPSI, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpsiehr) and on the CPSI blog. 

About Sunquest Information Systems

Sunquest is the market leader in the laboratory, delivering diagnostic information technology and outreach solutions designed to fulfill the business objectives of today's healthcare leaders. Sunquest is committed to providing comprehensive solutions that deliver quality diagnoses, optimize efficiency, improve patient safety, and respond to a changing market. With more than 30 years of experience, Sunquest continues to be the chosen partner for more than 1700 laboratories and over 300,000 end users worldwide. Sunquest serves the global marketplace with reliable technology for mission critical applications, enabling providers to deliver optimal care across their network. Sunquest has redefined the lab, empowering its partners to turn results into knowledge.

SOURCE CommonWell Health Alliance