St. Barnabas Health Care System Chooses LYNX Medical Systems Online Facility Charge Assignment Software

LYNX E/Point online will accurately align patient acuity with Emergency Department resource use

November 9, 2004—Bellevue, WA—LYNX Medical Systems today announced that an agreement had been reached with St. Barnabas Health Care System. The agreement includes implementation of E/Point online Emergency Department (ED) facility charging software at the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. The contract was signed in the fourth quarter of 2004.

In August 2004, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center’s Emergency Department participated in LYNX Medical Systems’ free trial of E/Point online facility charge assignment software. This software trial offered the Medical Center a proven acuity-based methodology that produces a visit level distribution that accurately reflects patient acuity mix with resource use. Following the Medical Center’s E/Point trial, LYNX performed an in-depth analysis. As a result, an agreement was reached to implement E/Point at the Medical Center.

LYNX E/Point online facility charging software will assist Newark Beth Israel Medical Center to record resources used for more than 54,000 annual Emergency Department (ED) outpatient visits. The Medical Center can also access financial and clinical data to better manage ED operations and patient care.

By employing thin-client technology and through a secure (SSL) Internet connectivity, Newark Beth Israel will be able to utilize E/Point’s functionality to assign charges online. E/Point will prompt for indication that specific tasks were performed and/or resources were used, and users will mark elements as appropriate and as reflected in nursing notes.

E/Point will automatically calculate the points associated with each patient’s presenting problem and each element marked by the nurse or charge specialist. The resulting total point value is associated with a visit level, which E/Point will also calculate. E/Point offers the convenience of online facility charging with automatic uploading into the healthcare organization’s finance system.

“We’re very excited to be working with LYNX on this project. In fact we’ve accelerated the timeline so we’re up and running by the end of November,” said Octavia Kelly-Gaston, director of health information management at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. “Normally, projects in a hospital environment can take a considerable amount of time to move forward. However, the LYNX team has done everything to accommodate our needs. We simply can’t wait to implement E/Point.”

Established in 1901, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center is a 671-bed regional care, teaching hospital and the only the only hospital in New Jersey where heart and lung transplants are performed. The Medical Center provides comprehensive health care services to its local communities and is a major referral and treatment center for patients throughout the northern New Jersey metropolitan area. With more than 814 physicians, 3,200 employees and 156 volunteers, the Medical Center has over 300,000 outpatient visits and 23,000 admissions annually.

“This partnership highlights St. Barnabas Health Care Systems’ commitment to health care,” said Mike DeTolla, president of LYNX Medical Systems Software. “LYNX E/Point online is just one of a suite of integrated software tools that help health care systems improve clinical outcomes while reducing workflow bottlenecks—bottlenecks that increase health care costs. With E/Point, Newark Beth Israel will receive the immediate benefit of streamlining operations while securing accurate, appropriate revenue.”

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