February 2, 2011 – Merge Healthcare announced the addition of 10 radiology practices that selected Merge radiology information system (RIS) to achieve meaningful use (MU). Almost 30 radiology practices now utilize Merge RIS as their complete and fully certified electronic health records (EHR).
"Meaningful use had a major impact on the radiology industry," said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. "In just one short year, we've witnessed a widespread acceptance of meaningful use and its ability to help radiologists achieve health and efficiency goals. With almost 28,000 radiologists, the MU incentive opportunity represents more than 1 billion dollars in incentive payments. We're proud to have led the charge by delivering one of the industry's only radiology-specific solutions with complete ambulatory certification, and for helping our clients build a foundation for growth and improved patient care."
Merge RIS v7.0 provides a radiology-specific EHR with complete certification that 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, and more importantly, avoid future penalties that will come from not meeting meaningful use.
"As radiologists face mounting regulation and restrictions in terms of what will and won't be reimbursed, it was quite apparent that our community needed a radiology-specific solution tool that would help us meet these challenges in a cost-effective manner," said Mark Stein, M.D., West Coast Radiology. "With Merge RIS, we can now address these challenges head on. And not only will Merge RIS enable us to meet meaningful use criteria and avoid future penalties, but it will also streamline our workflow, which in turn will help us provide better patient care."
"In addition to improving workflow and meeting MU criteria, we see Merge RIS as a tool that will help increase our marketability," said Alicia Vasquez, president, Arcadia Radiology Medical Group and immediate past-president of the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA). "Because we've invested in Merge RIS, we are able to use it as a recruitment vehicle and say to radiologists that we can help you get your MU dollars."
Merge RIS v7.0 functionality includes ePrescribing, enhanced 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 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.
For more information: www.merge.com
July 25, 2024 
