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Healthland Takes Leadership Role in Industry Organizations to Help Define and Increase Adoption of IT Standards in Small Community Hospitals

Healthcare IT provider continues to move forward with technology vision and hospital advocacy efforts with participation in HIT committees

GLENWOOD, Minn., August 24, 2009 - Healthland, America's market leader of healthcare information solutions for small community and critical access hospitals, announced today that three of its team members have been selected to participate on industry leading healthcare committees to help improve the quality of healthcare, reduce costs and improve patient safety with leading-edge healthcare information technology (HIT). The organizations include: The Minnesota e-Health Initiative Advisory Committee, the Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) and the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®).

These leadership positions will provide Healthland with the opportunity to further its education in the latest industry certifications and standards, influence industry organizations and serve as a voice for the small community hospital market.

“We believe our recent appointments to the HITSP Technical Committee, HITSP Tiger Team, CCHIT and the Minnesota e-Health Initiative validate our role as an advocate for both our customers and small community hospitals,” said James Burgess, president and CEO of Healthland. “We are committed to helping advance the adoption of healthcare information technology and will continue to take our place at the table with organizations that enable us to stay informed on current industry issues, and work on behalf of the small community hospital market to ensure their needs and concerns are addressed.”

Healthland Senior Vice President of Sales and Market Development, Angie Franks, will serve on Minnesota’s e-Health Initiative Advisory Committee. The Minnesota e-Health Initiative was created to accelerate the use of health information technology to improve healthcare quality, increase patient safety, reduce healthcare costs and enable individuals and communities to make the best possible health decisions. The Minnesota e-Health Advisory Committee will make recommendations to the Commissioner of Health on policies and strategies that empower consumers, inform and connect healthcare providers, protect communities and enhance infrastructure.

Chief Technology Officer for Healthland, Odell Tuttle, will serve on the HITSP Tiger Team and Technical Standards Committee. HITSP, a cooperative partnership between the public and private sectors, works to ensure the interoperability of electronic health records (EHR’s) in the United States. The HITSP Tiger Team and Technical Committees will:

• Perform requirements analysis, minimum data set identification and high level design for use in Interoperability Specifications
• Identify and analyze gaps and duplications within the standards industry as they relate to Clinical Research
• Interact with HITSP Secretariat for coordination with Standards Organizations

Jennifer Lane, Healthland Clinical Product Manager, was one of six new members selected to the CCHIT emergency department workgroup. The work group is charged with developing criteria and test scripts to certify EHR products used to support emergency department patients. CCHIT is an independent, nonprofit organization with a public mission of accelerating the adoption of health IT.

“The appointment of these Healthland team members to such key organizations confirms the talent, influence and commitment we have to transforming community healthcare,” added Burgess. “These advocacy roles will enable Healthland to be on the forefront of changes taking place in the healthcare industry, including healthcare IT standards and meaningful use requirements.”