University Medical Center taps Cerner To further align EHR teams at multiple V=venues

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jan. 26, 2015 — University Medical Center (UMC) Health System and leading health information technology supplier, Cerner Corp., have agreed to a 10-year extended and enhanced relationship to align electronic health record (EHR) and clinical IT teams at UMC, Texas Tech Physicians of Lubbock and UMC Physicians Network Services (PNS).

UMC, Tech, PNS and Cerner have worked together for more than a decade. Under the alignment, UMC will work with Cerner to further implement the shared digital patient record, automate additional clinical workflows including endoscopy and oncology and create a single communications platform across the three organizations. The new solutions, new platform and new workflows will bring an even deeper level of continuity of care as well as position UMC for the future of health care including changes anticipated with health reform and regulatory requirements.

“We see Cerner as a partner that is dedicated to helping us achieve the outcomes we strive for: quality, safety and continuity of care,” said Bill Eubanks, chief information officer and senior vice president, UMC. “Today’s health care requires separate organizations to work closely as a team, and in our case that’s UMC, Texas Tech Physicians and PNS. With Cerner, our providers are better able to serve patients across all three entities.”

Cerner and UMC, based in Lubbock, Texas, will organize a value creation team to facilitate several projects each year to proactively assess risk, review processes and identify innovative ways to improve outcomes.

“We are very excited about expanding our relationship with UMC and Texas Tech,” said Michelle Roseman, general manager, Cerner. “Over the last decade, we’ve worked together to establish the foundation and set the stage for future success. We now have the opportunity to further align our organizations and drive change in health care in West Texas. Cerner, UMC and Texas Tech all share a common passion about transforming care, and this collaboration truly aligns our goals to enable value creation initiatives such as sepsis reduction and the reduction of readmissions.”

Working on these initiatives will be a team comprised of 50 members from UMC, Texas Tech Physicians and PNS. In addition, as part of the long-term relationship with Cerner, several full-time Cerner associates will be embedded in Lubbock to serve as liaisons and knowledge experts, supported by a dedicated Cerner team in Kansas City, Mo.