Under this program Lumetra will offer Priority Primary Care Providers (PPCPs) technical assistance with EHR adoption during the two year program across 8 counties surrounding the Bay Area. The geographic coverage area includes Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties.

Beginning in 2011, participating healthcare providers will become eligible for meaningful use incentives from Medicare or Medi-Cal, ranging between $44,000 to $64,000 per provider. Lumetra offers services that help physician practices overcome the hurdles often met in selecting, implementing and using EHR systems.
In partnership with greater Bay Area Medical Societies and San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium, Lumetra will recruit and assist over 777 primary care providers who may be eligible for EHR technical assistance.

In making the announcement, the President of Lumetra Healthcare Solutions, John Weir, stated, “This opportunity to expand the use of our technical and clinical services within the primary care environment under the REC program, offers participating healthcare providers the ability to make use of proven tools and years of field experience as they enter the EHR arena. Technology offers tremendous potential to increase patient safety and vast improvements in communication between patients and their healthcare providers. We see the current environment as the perfect time to press forward with advancing healthcare technology use, based on alignment of adoption incentives and technology standards that can greatly change the practice of healthcare in the United States.”

The Lumetra LEC, led by S. Bre Jackson, has a unique national perspective and local expertise. It is committed to building connection and collaboration among the Bay Area region’s healthcare community, ensuring that individuals and organizations are connected to the right people, tools and resources to optimize success of Health IT and achievement of Meaningful Use of electronic health records.

In making the announcement, the CEO of Lumetra Healthcare Solutions, Linda M. Sawyer, PhD, RN, stated, “With our software and services approach to improving patient safety, Lumetra PSO offers reporting of data, analysis of issues and the formulation of corrective action plans that meet the needs of healthcare organizations and their providers in reducing costs incurred by adverse events. The combination of our world-class service with iSOFT’s AIMS software will provide unparalleled solutions for organizations committed to improving their patient safety efforts.”

Michael Dahlweid, iSOFT’s Chief Medical Officer, said, “AIMS is web-based, secure, sophisticated, easy-to-use, and highly efficient. It uses the latest knowledge engineering methods to construct a high performance classification system. Its automated ‘alert’ and workflow functionality assures healthcare managers are notified about serious events, while providing follow-up notices to staff. Built-in Business Intelligence enables analysts extract meaningful information from a myriad of data points.”

The AIMS software provides an integrated electronic solution for collecting, tracking, reporting, and managing all patient safety activity. An incident and risk management software program, it provides specific and detailed reporting information needed to devise interventions and solutions to patient safety problems. The AIMS incident management software is based on 20 years of research and has been employed at more than 1000 organizations worldwide, including government healthcare agencies, hospitals, and nursing homes.

To meet the clinical, analytical, and technological patient safety needs for healthcare delivery systems, Lumetra PSO supplies software and services that include:

For healthcare organizations

• Common Formats seamlessly integrated with AIMS massive ontology (24,000 available concepts) developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
• Immediate analysis and alerts allowing local management of incidents and risk
• Comprehensive analytics for strategic reporting and benchmarking
• Root cause analysis
• Collaborative learning forums
• TeamSTEPPS™ Master Trainers and targeted interventions

For PSOs

• AIMS world-class, highly intuitive, Web-based software
• Regulatory compliance programs
• PSO member management services
• Scalable solutions for reporting and data analytics to meet a variety of needs beyond Common Formats

The Lumetra PSO provides several levels of comprehensive, confidential, and privileged services plus additional value-added consulting for healthcare providers seeking to understand and minimize their safety risks delivering patient care. The PSO’s expertise lies in analyzing the care delivered during patient safety events, including the identification, analysis, prevention, and reduction or elimination of the risks and hazards, as well as root cause analyses (RCA) and action plans for improvement. The collection and reporting of patient safety events in healthcare facilities is facilitated by the use of common definitions and reporting formats (Common Formats) developed by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

About Lumetra PSO

The Lumetra PSO (LPSO) is a component PSO and an independent division of Lumetra Healthcare Solutions, a nonprofit healthcare consulting organization that solves healthcare business problems with an integrated clinical, analytical, and technological solution. LPSO is officially designated by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a federal Patient Safety Organization (PSO) under the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIO). The PSQIO is administered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The Lumetra PSO, an independent division of Lumetra, works with providers nationwide to reduce the incidence of events that adversely affect patients. For more information, please visit www.lumetrasolutions.com/PSO.

About iSOFT Solutions (International) Pty Ltd

iSOFT Group Limited is the largest health information technology company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, and among the world’s biggest providers of advanced application solutions in modern healthcare economies.

iSOFT works with healthcare professionals to design and build software applications that answer all of the difficult questions posed by today’s healthcare delivery challenges. Our solutions act as a catalyst for change, supporting free exchange of critical information across diverse care settings and participating organizations.

Today, more than 13,000 provider organizations in about 40 countries use iSOFT’s solutions to manage patient information and drive improvements in their core processes. The group’s sustainable development is delivered through careful planning, in-depth analysis of the market, and anticipation of our clients’ evolving requirements. Our business is driven by the collective talent, experience and commitment of more than 4,700 specialists, including more than 2,700 technology and development professionals.

Commenting on the project, Linda M. Sawyer, PhD, RN, Lumetra Healthcare Solutions’ CEO, said: “Congratulations to the team and our partners, B & F Consulting and Barbary Coast Consulting, for this significant win. Together, we will be assisting Laguna Honda Hospital as they prepare to move into their wonderful new state of the art facility that will provide the best care possible for their long-term care residents.”

She continued, “The Lumetra team will partner with Laguna Honda staff and the City Team in enhancing resident/patient-directed care by assessing their current care practices, comparing these to national best practices, and proposing a world class model of care and corresponding implementation plan. We will focus on three primary components: the model of care, process and operational practices, and organizational effectiveness. Laguna Honda wants to become a world-class example of how each resident/patient can achieve the highest quality of life, care, and independence in a community setting.”

Mivic Hirose, RN, MS, the Chief Executive Officer of Laguna Honda Hospital commented, “The Lumetra team takes us to a whole new level of excellence. Their model lets us apply a time-tested quality improvement program to our own 140-year tradition of service. In 2010 we will move 780 seniors and adults with disabilities into the most modern long-term care and rehabilitation center in the country. This is a critical moment for our organization, and Lumetra is helping us create a future of new possibilities.”

The City Controller’s Office, in partnership with Laguna Honda and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH), issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) earlier this year, seeking a contractor that could demonstrate experience in model of care and organizational effectiveness development in long-term and rehabilitative care settings. Lumetra Healthcare Solutions teamed with Barbary Coast Consulting and B & F Consulting in response to the RFP and was awarded the contract by the Office of the Controller for the City and County of San Francisco through a competitive procurement process earlier this year.

About Laguna Honda

Laguna Honda is an acute care skilled nursing facility and rehabilitation center. It is among the largest such facilities nationwide, representing one of the most extensive commitments to long-term care for a safety net population of any city or county in the country. It provides dementia and Alzheimer’s services, care for people with degenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s, rehabilitation for the effects of stroke or traumatic brain injury, and the Bay Area’s only HIV/AIDS skilled nursing services.

About Lumetra Healthcare Solutions

Lumetra Healthcare Solutions solves healthcare business problems with an integrated clinical, analytical, and technological solution that reduces complexity and costs while improving patient outcomes. With over 25 years experience, the organization understands how to identify and solve problems at their root to implement lasting changes throughout the continuum of care.

About Barbary Coast Consulting

Barbary Coast Consulting is a full-service public affairs company based in San Francisco whose clients include for-profits, nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, utilities, and real estate interests.  Barbary Coast has expertise in communicating complex issues to stakeholders, decision-makers, elected officials, and members of the media. Past and current clients include the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, the San Francisco Police Department, the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Nielsen Media Research, Sunset Scavenger Company, and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

About B & F Consulting

Cathie Brady and Barbara Frank founded B&F Consulting, Inc. in 2004. Together they have over 60 years experience improving long-term care. Ms. Brady’s expertise is in organizational development and “high-performance leadership.” She has directed several senior service operations. Ms. Frank began her career with the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform where she facilitated national collaboration to develop and enact OBRA ’87. This landmark law put into federal statute the concept of “individualized care,” the regulatory underpinning for the growing “culture change” movement.

“The needs of healthcare business are changing, driven as much by economic necessity as by pending reform legislation,” said Dr. Sawyer. “Our nation’s healthcare system can no long afford to solve problems in silos. We need comprehensive solutions that enable healthcare to do more with less while improving patient outcomes. Our restructured consulting services respond to that challenge by delivering an integrated clinical, analytical, and technological solution for the business of healthcare, reducing complexity and cost.”

Today’s announcement is accompanied by a restructuring that includes the merger of its Illumisys division into Lumetra Healthcare Solutions and a reorganization of client services.  Illumisys’ staff, contracts, and clients are now absorbed into the parent organization. Client services have been reorganized around the three primary markets for the organization’s integrated solution, which are Healthcare Services, Government Services, and Patient Safety Services.

Dr. Sawyer went on to say, “In the past year we’ve successfully transitioned to a more nimble organization, streamlining and integrating solutions to serve our clients more efficiently. We’re focusing on our strength in solving our clients’ problems with a collaborative approach that positively impacts their bottom line.”

The organization’s new focus comes on the heels of winning several new client contracts including the September award by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) for their Protected Clinical Peer Review Services.

Lumetra Healthcare Solutions solves healthcare business problems with an integrated clinical, analytical, and technological solution that reduces complexity and costs while improving patient outcomes. With over 25 years experience, the organization understands how to identify and solve problems at their root to implement lasting changes throughout the continuum of care.

Clinical peer review is a critical review of an episode of care performed by a peer and/or group of peers. Lumetra’s contract calls upon the company to address these two objectives:

• To assess the accuracy and adequacy of clinical peer review conducted internally within a VHA Medical Center through an audit of randomly selected as well as high-risk cases
• To provide external expertise in order to conduct the primary clinical peer review of selected episodes of care, either upon request of a facility or for other special circumstances

Lumetra has an extensive and robust peer review network of physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare professionals.

The VHA is the largest Federal provider of healthcare, with 152 medical centers and 732 associated outpatient clinics. The VHA’s clinical peer review program is a critical element of their quality management and demonstrates the agency’s continuing commitment to provide the highest possible healthcare quality to America’s veterans.

Queried as to how this major contract was won, Lumetra CEO Linda Sawyer, PhD, RN, stated: “Lumetra offered the VHA the best solution to meet the unique healthcare needs of our veteran population.”

Patricia Daniel, BSN, CPHQ, Lumetra Vice President added, “American veterans contend with a unique set of medical issues, when compared to other subsets of populations, such as Medicaid or Medicare recipients.”

“In addition,” she concluded, “because of our lengthy experience handling confidential medical records, we are able to meet the VHA’s confidentiality and security requirements. Moreover, the VHA’s use of electronic health records, resulting in online clinical record review, plays to our organization’s strengths.”

Lumetra is an independent consulting organization dedicated to improving the quality, safety, efficiency, and integrity of healthcare. Lumetra is a leader in driving sustainable solutions for the business of healthcare, by integrating clinical, technology, and analytic expertise for our clients in the private and public sectors.

IntegriGuard was formed in 1999 as a national division of Lumetra focusing on the prevention and detection of fraud and abuse in healthcare systems. It was established as a wholly-owned subsidiary in April 2003. The sale is effective immediately.

About Lumetra

Lumetra provides reliable professional services and sustainable solutions through integrated clinical, technological, and analytic expertise to transform the delivery and administration of healthcare.

“Improving medication safety is essential to reforming America’s healthcare system.  Dr. Chan brings a wealth of experience and an exciting vision on how to enhance medication safety and adherence so that consumers have the best possible outcomes,” said Linda Sawyer, PhD, RN, Lumetra’s Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Chan served as Pharmacy Manager/Facility Manager at Walgreen’s Home Care where she developed and helped design the first Northern California Home Care facility for Walgreens Co. Prior to this position she worked as a Clinical Pharmacist at Coram Healthcare, Critical Care Systems, and First DataBank. She has also served as Supervisor of Outpatient Pharmacy at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.  Dr. Chan holds a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Pacific and completed her Clinical Pharmacy Residency at Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Dr. Chan will be providing leadership and expertise for Lumetra’s clinical pharmacy initiatives. “I am excited for the opportunity to help strategically design and expand Lumetra’s pharmacy initiatives,” says Dr. Chan. “There are a number of demonstration projects underway that will lead to innovative new findings in medication safety, adherence, and outreach to the underserved. This is a great time to be part of Lumetra.”

Lumetra is a non-profit, independent professional services organization that works with payer, provider, life science, and government clients to measurably improve healthcare quality while reducing costs through the innovative utilization of clinical expertise and analytic rigor combined with social marketing and cultural competency.

“Patient safety makes good business sense,” says Dr. Linda Sawyer, Lumetra’s Chief Executive Officer. “Medical errors, adverse drug events, and hospital-acquired infections are among the most prevalent and preventable patient safety hazards, not only costing patient lives and affecting patient wellbeing, but also impacting productivity and costing hospitals and other providers billions of dollars each year. Organizations investing in patient safety decrease costs, improve clinical quality indicators, increase workflow efficiencies, and avoid exposure to malpractice litigation. In addition to saving lives, this formula puts them in a unique strategic business position to contain costs and win market share in an increasingly competitive healthcare industry.”

According to Jenna Fischer, Lumetra’s Director of Patient Safety, organizations working with Lumetra can report their patient safety events, near misses, and quality of care issues. Lumetra will perform “root cause analyses and recommend quality and systems improvements.” She continued, “The work product will be privileged and confidential.”

The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA) created a system for the voluntary reporting of medical errors and “near misses” to promote the development of interventions and solutions that ensure patient safety. It authorized the creation of Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) to reduce the incidence of events that adversely affect patients.

Lumetra has a long track record in patient safety initiatives, having worked collaboratively on the Patient Safety Event Taxonomy (PSET) a set of national standards for patient safety event reporting, as well as with more than 100 California hospitals to oversee quality improvement projects for the state’s Medicare recipients. These programs also included initiatives to reduce adverse drug events, surgical complications, and hospital-acquired infections. In 2008 Lumetra’s team of patient safety experts made a strong case for business safety in their analysis, “The Business Case for Patient Safety,” demonstrating the dramatic cost of patient safety violations and the benefits of investing in error-reduction initiatives, as well as findings on drug-to-drug interactions and potentially inappropriate medications and their impact on senior populations.

Lumetra is a non-profit, independent professional services organization that works with payer, provider, life science, and government clients to measurably improve healthcare quality while reducing costs through the innovative utilization of clinical expertise and analytic rigor combined with social marketing and cultural competency.

“Linda’s leadership, intellect, dedication, experience, and judgment make her the ideal choice for leading Lumetra into the future,” says James Gomez, Chair, Lumetra’s Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer, California Association of Health Facilities.

Dr. Sawyer succeeds Jo Ellen H. Ross, who co-founded Lumetra and served as its President and CEO during the past 25 years. Ms Ross recently stepped down from the organization’s executive leadership, though will continue as a consultant to the Board and staff. “Under her visionary leadership, the work of Lumetra improved the healthcare system and lives of millions of Californians,” said Gomez “We all are deeply indebted to Jo Ellen for her passion, dedication, and service.”

Dr. Sawyer joined Lumetra in January 2000. She has more than 15 years of progressive management experience and 30 years of clinical practice experience as a registered nurse. Before joining Lumetra, Dr. Sawyer was an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing and still maintains a faculty appointment at UCSF in the Community Health Systems department. She has an extensive background in quality improvement, home health, managed care, cross-cultural issues in healthcare, and ethics.

Dr. Sawyer has served on the Board of Directors of the American Nurses Association (ANA), American Nurses Credentialing Center, ANA Political Action Committee, California Nurses Association (CNA), and the Alameda County Nurses Association (ACNA). She is an active member of the Chief Operating Officer Business Forum and the American College of Healthcare Executives. She was formerly a member of the Technical Quality Committee of the Integrated Healthcare Association and is currently on the Steering Committee of the California Quality Collaborative at the Pacific Business Group on Health.

Dr. Sawyer has a Master’s degree in International and Cross-Cultural Nursing and a PhD in Nursing from UCSF. Her extensive publication credits include a co-authorship of “Older Women’s Health Gap” in the 4^th Quarter 2007 CAHQ Journal as well as co-authorship of “The Business Case for Patient Safety,” in 2008’s 1^st Quarter CAHQ Journal.

Commenting on her elevation to the CEO position, Dr. Sawyer affirmed “Lumetra is a vibrant organization with a strong focus on payer, provider, life sciences, and public sector clients. Our current engagements range from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs to the Health Authority—Abu Dhabi and Takeda Pharmaceuticals to the California Department of Managed Care. These clients and others recognize that our professional services measurably improve healthcare quality while reducing costs through the innovative utilization of clinical expertise and analytic rigor combined with social marketing and cultural competency.  I look forward to leading Lumetra in this next phase of its success.”

The contract runs for three years, and is valued at approximately $800,000.

“This is the kind of work we’ve been doing since we started out 24 years ago, reviewing clinical issues and problems brought to light by patient complaints,” says Chris Hottinger, Vice President of Business Development for Lumetra. “It’s nice to know we can benefit health care systems around the world with our expert clinical staff.”

The Health Authority—Abu Dhabi (HAAD) provides healthcare services to residents of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It is also responsible for regulatory issues intended to ensure the healthcare provided at its 46 primary care centers and eight hospitals is of the highest quality.

The work Lumetra will do for HAAD includes performing independent clinical reviews of patient complaints with the goal of pointing out areas for system improvements. “This is an exciting project that enables Lumetra to help improve healthcare outside the boundaries of the U.S.,” says Lumetra CEO Jo Ellen Ross.

Lumetra is an independent consulting organization dedicated to improving the quality, safety, efficiency, and integrity of healthcare. Lumetra provides an array of professional services that include medical review, health information technology, quality evaluation and improvement, social marketing, communications, and data analysis to private and public entities. Nonprofit Lumetra works with healthcare providers to ensure that every person receives the right care, every time.