MD Physician Services (formerly Practice Solutions) Update

September 15, 2010

The Physician Office System Program (POSP) supports physicians in the implementation and use of an electronic medical record (EMR) to facilitate patient care. There are currently three VCUR 2008 EMR solutions available in Alberta that are eligible for reimbursement through POSP: MD Physician Services (formerly Practice Solutions), Med Access and Wolf Medical Systems.

At present, Practice Solutions is experiencing difficulties implementing their EMR solutions in the Alberta market. POSP is working very closely with Practice Solutions to ensure they have the strategies and practices in place to successfully deploy EMR solutions. POSP is taking the following actions:

• POSP continues to meet regularly with Practice Solutions senior management and sales teams to review project status.
• POSP has assigned resources to work directly with Practice Solutions sales (change management), deployment and migration teams to discuss clinic-specific─and broader─issues.
• Practice Solutions has assigned a Data Management Project Manager to work with POSP's Data Management Leader to manage the process, including weekly meetings.

In the next few weeks, Practice Solutions will be communicating directly with all Alberta physicians about their enhanced implementation approach to resolving these issues. In the interim, POSP and Practice Solutions have agreed:

• Practice Solutions will voluntarily delay signing new contracts prior to January 2011.
• Practice Solutions has requested, and POSP has agreed, that extensions will be granted for physicians currently at Milestones 2 and 3.
• Practice Solutions will delay further deployments to ensure the quality of each deployment currently underway.
• Practice Solutions will communicate directly with Alberta physicians about current issues and progress to resolution.
• Practice Solutions has assigned Andrew Jackson, Vice President of Member Solutions, to oversee the project plans and issues resolution.

The qualified service providers (QSPs) continue to streamline their processes as they gain experience in implementing EMRs in Alberta. POSP advises all physicians to ensure due diligence is followed in assessing the capabilities and performance of all QSPs prior to signing a contract. POSP change management advisors and portfolio coordinators are your dedicated resource to assist physicians in identifying business requirements and successfully implementing an EMR solution.

If you have further questions, please contact your change management advisor or POSP toll-free 1.866.817.3875 or
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