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12/07/2000 Seattle, WA -The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) announced the funding of $1,092,326 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for their research on the electronic medical record (EMR) and its effect on quality improvement for primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and stroke. MUSC will use the funds to conduct research at 23 practices across the United States that are affiliated with the Practice Partner Research Network (PPRNet), a unique practice-based research network that uses Physician Micro System's Practice Partner Patient Records electronic medical record for the collection of data.
Some of the factors that this guide addresses include: the defining characteristics of an ASP and how it differs from traditional client-server applications, the advantages of an ASP vs. traditional client-server applications, and the trade-offs of implementing an ASP vs. traditional client-server systems
"These studies will bolster our understanding of which quality improvement efforts work for which situations," says John M. Eisenberg, M.D., Director of AHRQ. " The findings of these studies will strengthen the underlying evidence base to bring better care to all Americans."
The overall aim of the grant is to accelerate the impact of research on practices, and to improve the outcomes, quality, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of healthcare through partnerships between health care organizations and researchers.
Founded in May 1995, PPRNet is a joint venture between the Department of Family Medicine and the Center for Health Care Research at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), and Practice Partner . Since 1995, PPRNet's longitudinal patient database has increased to include over 360 physicians from more than 60 practices, all of which are utilizing Practice Partner's Practice Partner Patient Records as their electronic medical record. The PPRNet database currently has more than 4 million patient visits from more than 370,000 patients. MUSC is primarily responsible for the management of the network, and together with the PPRNet advisory board designs and initiates research projects. Practice Partner is responsible for the collection and storage of data provided by participating physicians.
Seattle-based Practice Partner is a leader in the development and marketing of innovative Electronic Medical Records and Practice Management products for medical offices and large health care enterprises. Practice Partner, founded in 1983 by Dr. Andrew Ury to provide comprehensive software solutions for office-based physicians, is one of the pioneers in electronic medical records software. More than 1200 offices use Practice Partner software, and more than 700 of them use Practice Partner Patient Records. With over a decade of experience with the EMR (Practice Partner released its first version of Practice Partner Patient Records in 1987), Practice Partner has created software products that are finely honed to the real world needs of physicians, nurses, and office professionals.
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