Medsphere Systems Corporation, the leading provider of affordable and interoperable healthcare IT platform solutions, today announced that Houston’s IntraCare Behavioral Health will implement the company’s OpenVista electronic health record (EHR).

IntraCare, a community-based provider of comprehensive behavioral health services for children, adolescents and adults, identified OpenVista's flexibility and open architecture, as well as Medsphere’s rapid implementation process and clinical transformation services, as the most effective path to improved patient care.

"Our decision to go with OpenVista was influenced by both the success and reputation of VistA at VA hospitals and our seeing OpenVista in action at Silver Hill Hospital, another Medsphere client,” said IntraCare President Deo Shanker. “We were very impressed with the Multi-Disciplinary Treatment Plan that Medsphere and Silver Hill collaboratively developed. It was clear to us that, given the affordability and flexibility of OpenVista, this was the optimal solution for IntraCare.”

The OpenVista Multi-Disciplinary Treatment Plan (MDTP) module IntraCare executives saw in use at Silver Hill enhances clinical workflows and enables clinicians and other care team members to plan, coordinate, and document individual components of the care plan and track progress toward overarching goals. MDTP also uses plan update prompts and notifications to support treatment team compliance with regulatory requirements.

“Philosophically, Deo Shanker and his team are very much aligned with what Medsphere is trying to achieve and we are very pleased to have IntraCare as a partner,” said Irv Lichtenwald, Medsphere president and CEO. “Like us, they believe that quality healthcare enabled by comprehensive health IT should be available to all patients, regardless of geography or financial resources. Medsphere looks forward to the collaboration.”

Medsphere's OpenVista is the commercialized version of the VistA EHR created and developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) over 20 years ago and credited with helping turn the agency into a national leader in quality patient care. Using open source code available from the VA through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), OpenVista can be implemented much more quickly and affordably than traditional proprietary solutions.

About IntraCare Behavioral Health

IntraCare Behavioral Health offers a continuum of mental health and chemical dependency services to Houston-area children, adolescents and adults. Serving the community through IntraCare North Hospital and affiliated clinics, the organization provides assessments and evaluations, crisis stabilization, medication management, nursing services, social and therapy services, activities therapy, comprehensive individualized treatment and discharge planning, detoxification and relapse prevention. Accredited by the Joint Commission, IntraCare is guided by an organizational ethos focused on courtesy, dignity and hope.

About Medsphere and OpenVista

Founded in 2002 and based in Carlsbad, Calif., Medsphere Systems Corporation is an award-winning organization of clinical and technology professionals working to make quality health IT solutions accessible to organizations of virtually any size, shape or budget. Medsphere’s OpenVista is a portfolio of clinical support products and professional services that leverages an electronic health record (EHR) system developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This VistA EHR is widely credited with helping transform the VA into the nation's most efficient and clinically effective healthcare organization. OpenVista, the most fully commercialized VistA offspring, is a responsible reapplication of the VA’s $8.5 billion investment, which recent studies show have yielded $3.09 billion in benefits, primarily from the near elimination of medication administration issues and duplicate testing.

Medsphere’s subscription-based pricing model enables hospital, clinic and integrated delivery network customers to pay for OpenVista from their operating budget with no upfront costs or back-end balloon payments. Expert implementation and other services facilitate fluid and rapid transition to a paperless clinical environment focusing on best practices and evidence-based medicine in six to nine months. Medsphere also actively nurtures the Healthcare Open Source Ecosystem, a global community of customers, partners, developers and other online collaborators who drive OpenVista innovation, and provide a parallel development and support structure.

Learn more about Medsphere at www.medsphere.com / www.medsphere.org.