Survey Finds Quality Management and ERP Software Integration Critical to Halt Contaminated Batches at Pharmaceutical Organizations

Holmdel, NJ Apr 27, 2011 – Forward-thinking pharmaceutical organizations that have integrated their quality management solutions with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are commonly leveraging these integrations to place batches of manufactured products on hold, according to new data revealed today. The survey of more than 100 pharmaceutical manufacturing professionals, conducted by Sparta Systems, Inc., the maker of TrackWise® quality management software and the market leader in enterprise quality and compliance management solutions, found that 65 percent of the companies integrating these key systems use the resulting functionality to automatically place batches on hold, a critical function that ensures incidents in the manufacturing process do not effect the products ultimately delivered to the market.
More and more, organizations are implementing best-of-breed quality management software solutions to automate vital quality processes, as well as integrating these systems with ERP solutions to ensure organization-wide management of these processes. According to the survey data from Sparta Systems:
• Seventy-five percent of organizations that have purchased dedicated quality management software either have integrated or plan to integrate it with their ERP system
• Of those organizations that have already undertaken such an integration, more than 70 percent view the ability to more quickly find the appropriate batch information after identifying non-conformances – and to put a batch on hold once the non-conformance is identified – as key benefits of the integration
• Other major benefits of integration include: ability to maintain one master product list instead of having multiple product lists in different systems (82 percent); ability to more efficiently track customer complaints back to the original batch (59 percent); and the ability to correlate non-conformances and customer complaints back to specific products and batches (47 percent)
“It’s clear from this survey data that pharmaceutical companies are seeing tremendous advantages in integrating their purpose-built quality management and ERP software systems,” said Tim Mohn, Industry Principal, Sparta Systems. “The best quality management solutions on the market allow for seamless integration with these systems, and forward-thinking organizations are clearly realizing this. In doing so, they’re helping to ensure that the processes used to manufacture their products are streamlined across the organization, while these products are delivered to market with complete assurance of their safety for public consumption.”
Click here to learn more about the enterprise integration capabilities built into Sparta Systems’ TrackWise Enterprise Quality Management Software.

M2S adds thoracic endovascular aortic repair to its Clinical Data Pathways registry

West Lebanon, NH Apr 21, 2011 — M2S, Inc., a leading provider of medical image and clinical data analysis services, has added the thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) procedure form to its Clinical Data Pathways vascular quality improvement database, with the release of version 1.10 of the system. The Clinical Data Pathways database is the registry platform utilized by the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI), and now collects data on eight vascular procedures – carotid endarterectomy, carotid artery stent, open and endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms, infra-inguinal and supra-inguinal bypass, peripheral vascular intervention, and TEVAR.
Clinical Data Pathways is a secure, web-based system for data entry and real-time benchmarked report generation. Pathways provides a common platform for VQI participating centers and physicians to collect data on pre-operative risk factors, intra-procedural variables, post-procedural outcomes, and one year follow-up data. Under the auspices of the Society for Vascular Surgery® Patient Safety Organization (SVS PSO), participants can analyze outcomes and processes of care, reinforce best practices, and share quality improvement efforts regionally, nationally, and internationally. Centers participating in VQI can also satisfy the requirements for Part IV of the Maintenance of Certification of the American Board of Surgery, collect the necessary data to meet CMS’ Carotid Artery Stent Facility Recertification, and participate in PQRS (Physician Quality Reporting System).
A key component of VQI is the formation of regional vascular quality improvement groups within the SVS PSO for the sharing of data to initiate quality improvement projects in an effort to improve patient care. The real-time, benchmarked reports generated through the Pathways system allows regional groups and participating centers to continuously assess themselves compared to an anonymous group of peers on key performance measures. Currently, regional quality groups are organized or organizing in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Carolinas, Florida, Texas, Southern California, Virginia, Michigan, and Ontario, Canada. The continued formation and expansion of regional quality groups will create a greater value for benchmarking clinical data among hospitals, as well as the rapid accumulation of data that can leverage quality improvement initiatives for detecting root causes of outcomes and improving long-term patient surveillance.

HealthTech Teams with Allscripts to Connect Physicians and Hospitals

Franklin, TN Apr 13, 2011 — HealthTech, LLC today announced an agreement with Allscripts to become an authorized reseller of Allscripts MyWay physician Electronic Health Record (EHR) and practice management software.
The value-added agreement provides additional growth opportunities for both companies as it represents an important addition to HealthTech’s well-established revenue cycle, technology and hospital management services. Allscripts MyWay is an ONC-ATCB certified EHR with integrated practice management and claims management that helps independent and small physician practices improve the quality, safety and efficiency of their patient services. Physicians who adopt an ONC-ATCB certified EHR and demonstrate its “meaningful use” can qualify for between $44,000 and $64,000 in payments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
“We are very excited to expand our relationship with Allscripts to become a value-added partner for their MyWay physician EHR system,” said Derek Morkel, CEO of HealthTech. “HealthTech has a long history of helping community hospitals across the United States improve their operational, clinical and margin management expertise. Over the past several years, we have expanded our portfolio to include technology and revenue cycle products and services. We see this agreement with the leading EHR company as a great addition as we help our hospitals navigate the technological transformation that our industry is facing. HealthTech will now be able to assist rural and community hospitals and their associated physician groups attain meaningful use in a cost effective and efficient manner.”
Designed specifically to meet the needs of small physician practices, the Allscripts MyWay EHR is available via Software as a Service (SaaS) over the Internet or as an on-premise application installed on a server. The web-based SaaS approach provides additional flexibility by enabling physician practices to avoid many upfront and ongoing expenses tied to equipment, IT personnel and operations.
“To qualify for the maximum amount of federal incentives under ARRA, physicians must have an electronic health record in place and must be using it in their everyday practice as soon as possible,” said Kelley Schudy, Vice President of Channel for AllScripts. “We are pleased to team with HealthTech in helping hospitals provide their affiliated and independent physicians with a practical, cost-effective EHR and practice management solution from a trusted partner.”