Ray Scott, who was appointed by Governor Mike Beebe to serve as the state coordinator for health information technology and directs the activities of the OHIT said; “The selection of OptumInsight and their Axolotl HIE solution represents a major milestone in Arkansas’s efforts to expand the use of electronic health information that will benefit patients, care providers and payers.  OptumInsight’s extensive experience in enabling the exchange of medical information about patients, who are treated by multiple unaffiliated health care providers, means better coordinated care and ultimately better health for Arkansans.”

OHIT is the state-designated entity responsible for establishing the State Health Alliance for Records Exchange and for coordinating health information technology throughout the state.  Through the use of federal and state funding, OHIT and SHARE’s mission is to improve the quality of health for Arkansans by making the delivery of health care services more efficient and affordable, while improving patient safety.  The state received $7.9 million in funding as part of the State Health Information Cooperative Agreement Program made available through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).

Using OptumInsight’s Axolotl HIE solution, SHARE will create a secure infrastructure to connect disparate health information systems to facilitate the exchange of information with existing community and private HIEs as well as ambulatory electronic health record systems (EHR’s) across the state.  Participating physicians, authorized health services professionals, and hospital facilities will have the ability to exchange patients’ clinical information securely and access up-to-date and historical medical information at the point of care. This information may include the patient’s relevant clinical care summaries of diagnoses, treatments, lab test results, allergies, radiology images and medications from all care providers connected to SHARE.

SHARE will be implemented in phases. Phase 1 will provide secure messaging, which will facilitate and expand the secure, electronic movement and use of health information between unaffiliated health care providers. In Phase II, SHARE will evolve into a more robust health information exchange, giving all participating health care providers the ability to share patient information among hospitals, physicians and public health entities connected to the exchange. The benefits will include accurate and timely patient health care information available to care providers at the point of care, reduction of duplicate tests and medical errors to ultimately deliver safer, more affordable health care.  Additional benefits to the patients will include electronic access to their own health information to promote more patient involvement in their care.

Through collaboration with the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care and its division, HITArkansas, which serves as the Arkansas Regional Extension Center (REC), OHIT will provide strategies for assisting health care providers to quickly reach stage 1 meaningful use, as well as developing the infrastructure needed by labs, e-lab orders and structured lab results.  Recognizing that physician adoption is the key to any successful HIE, OptumInsight partnered with the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care and Oleen Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting, a national HIT healthcare consulting firm located in Little Rock, Ark. Oleen Pinnacle brings more than 20 years of HIT experience in hospital and ambulatory health information technology and most recent success with state and regional HIE deployments.

“The selection of OptumInsight to build the infrastructure for Arkansas’s health information exchange is a tremendous step in improving health care through health information technology,” said Ray Hanley, president and CEO of the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, the parent company of HITArkansas, the state’s Regional Extension Center. “OHIT has been a great partner in our efforts to aid health care providers in the transition to electronic health records, and we look forward to the next steps in that process.”

“OptumInsight is excited to work with the Arkansas Office of Health Information Technology to deploy a complete HIE infrastructure and solution that will make health care more efficient and affordable for care providers and patients, all while improving patient safety,” said Glenn Keet, senior vice president of business development for OptumInsight.  “OHIT will deploy a point to point network using Direct protocols as an adjunct to Axolotl’s Clinical Messaging® between physicians and patients, and will also have the leading solution for enabling authorized access to complete medical records for patients regardless of where the patients have received their care.”

The Arkansas Office of Health Information Technology is OptumInsight’s tenth statewide HIE customer, after Health Information Network of Arizona, Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services in Michigan, HealthInsight in Nevada, Health Information Partnership for Tennessee (HIP TN), among other leading statewide (Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, Utah and in partnership with Affiliated Computer Services Inc.  Kentucky) Health Information Exchanges that have selected OptumInsight’s Axolotl HIE solutions. Today, Axolotl HIE is connecting more than 55,000 physicians, 165,000 healthcare professionals, 375 hospitals, and 26 regional health information organizations (RHIOs) – including 5 Beacon Communities as part of the Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program.

The Axolotl HIE Solution
An HIE network connects all of the participating care providers and their patient record systems within its defined medical community – a hospital, independent delivery network (IDN), region or state. Once connected, patient-authorized participants can instantly receive and exchange their patient’s clinical results as well as access a complete and up-to-date medical record at the point of care, directly from their system of choice. This supports clinical decisions and efforts to improve quality of care and patient safety.

The Axolotl HIE Solution from OptumInsight connects hundreds of thousands of health care professionals across statewide exchanges and regional health information organizations, as well as Beacon communities, accountable care organizations and independent delivery networks. For more information visit www.axolotl.com.

About the Arkansas Office of Health Information Technology
The Arkansas Office of Health Information Technology (OHIT) is responsible for establishing the State Health Alliance for Records Exchange (SHARE), the statewide interoperable health information exchange, and for coordinating health information technology activities throughout the state.  Through the use of federal and state resources, OHIT and SHARE will improve the quality of health for Arkansans by enabling the more effective use of electronic health information technology to improve the delivery of healthcare services. For more information about OHIT, visit www.ohit.arkansas.gov ; for further information on SHARE, visit http://sharearkansas.com

About OptumInsight
OptumInsight provides health information, technology and consulting services. Commercial health plans, physicians, hospitals, life sciences companies, government agencies and other organizations that comprise the health care system depend on OptumInsight solutions and insights to improve their performance. OptumInsight is part of Optum, a leading information and technology-enabled health services company dedicated to making the health system work better for everyone. For more information, visit www.optuminsight.com.

About AFMC and HIT Arkansas
HITArkansas, a division of the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, is the federally designated Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (HITREC) for the state of Arkansas. HITArkansas’ purpose is to help health care providers in their use of health information technology by offering guidance, technical assistance and education of financial incentives associated with transitioning to the use of electronic health records (EHR’s).

About Oleen Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting
Oleen Pinnacle is a national healthcare consulting firm focused solely on information systems with an expertise in the business and practice of healthcare.  Our clients include all types of healthcare organizations, from integrated delivery systems to HMO’s, medical practices, hospitals and State healthcare agencies. Since 1988, Oleen Pinnacle has assisted clients with every aspect of the information management process including project management, analysis, business process reengineering, implementations, conversions, custom programming, training, EDI, and facilities management.  Oleen Pinnacle services clients from corporate offices in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Oleen Pinnacle Announces Acquisition of Partners in Health Systems

Acquisition signals company expansion into the healthcare IT and government services marketplace

Silver Spring, MD and Syracuse, NY – Oleen Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting announced today that they have acquired Partners in Health Systems (PHS), a Central New York-based IT consulting firm.  The acquisition creates a more diversified organization capable of offering healthcare IT services to both commercial and government sectors.

“We’re very excited about the possibilities this acquisition represents for our current and future clients,” said Pete Biagioni, President of Oleen Pinnacle.  “The combined company will now be able to provide services to both public and private sector organizations with a focus on improving the deployment of IT solutions across both sectors.”  Michael Spurchise, President of PHS added, “At the core, PHS has always been about creating relationships – the synergy and compatibility of our two organizations is clear.  By combining with Oleen Pinnacle, we’ll be able to broaden the strength of our organization, and provide our clients expanded technical and professional services.”

About Oleen Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting

Oleen Pinnacle is a national healthcare consulting firm focused solely on information systems with an expertise in the business and practice of healthcare.  Our clients include all types of healthcare organizations, from integrated delivery systems to HMO’s, medical practices, hospitals and State healthcare agencies. Since 1988, Oleen Pinnacle has assisted clients with every aspect of the information management process including project management, analysis, business process reengineering, implementations, conversions, custom programming, training, EDI, and facilities management.  Oleen Pinnacle services clients from corporate offices in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.  For more information, call 800.248.9534 or visit our website at www.oleenpinnacle.com

About Partners in Health Systems

Partners in Health Systems (PHS) is an information technology company, specializing in the technical support of public health. Since 2000, PHS has provided a variety of services including project management, software engineering, IT management, and support for public health initiatives such as Immunization Registries, Vital Records data systems, Neonatal Intensive Care and Vaccine Management systems.  Most recently PHS has been named the primary technology partner in the support of a health information exchange for a Regional Healthcare Information Organization (RHIO) in Central New York.

HealthEdge Announces Systems Integration Partnership with Oleen Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting

Premier healthcare consulting firm to implement patented, award-winning HealthRules® Product Suite

Burlington, MA, September 10, 2008 — HealthEdge, provider of the only modern enterprise-class platform for healthcare payors, today announced that it has partnered with Oleen Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting, a consulting firm that specializes in the implementation and integration of healthcare information management systems.

“We are very enthusiastic about our partnership with such a well respected player in the healthcare systems consultancy space,” said Rob Gillette, CEO of HealthEdge.  “In choosing implementation partners, it is important for us to find companies that truly understand the challenges payors are facing.  We feel confident that Oleen Pinnacle has that understanding and can provide our customers with the highest level of technical expertise and industry knowledge available.”

“We are pleased to extend our services to the market through this exciting new partnership,” said Pete Biagioni, President of Oleen Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting. “With HealthEdge’s proven, modern enterprise platform, and Oleen Pinnacle’s system implementation expertise, we will together enable healthcare payors to easily offer new products, improve margins, and enhance customer service and operational efficiency.”

Oleen Pinnacle’s certified HealthRules deployment engineers will provide a full range of implementation and integration services to HealthEdge clients, including system installation, configuration, training, data conversion, maintenance and project management.

About HealthEdge
HealthEdge provides the only modern, enterprise-class software platform for healthcare payors.  Using the patented HealthRules® software suite, health plans, health insurance companies and other payors can finally respond to new business opportunities and market changes in hours, not months or years, while drastically reducing both IT and operational costs. Leveraging an investment of over $125 million, HealthRules is the most modern, scalable and cost-effective technology in the industry. HealthEdge is the only choice for payors to survive and thrive in the emerging healthcare economy.

About Oleen Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting
Oleen Pinnacle is a healthcare consulting firm focused solely on information systems with an expertise in the business and practice of healthcare.  Our clients include all types of healthcare organizations, from integrated delivery systems to HMO’s, medical practices, and hospitals. Since 1988, Oleen Pinnacle has provided value added services for their clients with every aspect of the information management process including strategic systems planning, project management, system procurements, analysis, business process reengineering, implementations, conversions, custom programming, training, EDI, and facilities management.  The company is headquartered in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Oleen Pinnacle:

For more information, contact

Cliff Tabor

Oleen Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting

800.248.9534

ctabor@oleen.com

Visit our website at www.oleen.com

HealthEdge:

For more information, contact:

Ray Desrochers

HealthEdge

781.285.1316

rdesrochers@healthedge.com

Visit our website at www.healthedge.com

InterSystems Unites with Oleen and SurgiDat to Win Deptartment of Veteran’s Affairs Contract

Software Agreement Provides Surgical Instrument Management System Built on InterSystems CACHÉ Database To Nine VA Healthcare Centers

Cambridge, MA and Silver Spring, MD.—October 31, 2007—InterSystems today announced that Oleen, an InterSystems implementation partner, will provide the InterSystems CACHÉ®-based SurgiDat system to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The leading database provider in healthcare, InterSystems develops and markets innovative database and integration software. Its product line includes the InterSystems CACHÉ high-performance object database, InterSystems Ensemble® rapid integration platform, and InterSystems HealthShare™ platform for regional and national electronic health records. Oleen, based in Silver Springs, Md., is an IT consulting firm to the healthcare industry. SurgiDat Corporation, a part of Medical Systems Design (MSD) Pty., Ltd.,  with offices in Stamford, Conn., is an InterSystems application partner that specializes in software solutions for inventory automation in healthcare.

“We are gratified to have the opportunity to work with Oleen and SurgiDat to provide the top-tier, highly innovative SurgiDat surgical instrument management software to VA hospitals” said Paul Grabscheid, InterSystems Vice President of Strategic Planning. “InterSystems has very successful working partnerships with both companies,” he continued, “and it was exciting to participate in uniting domestic and internationally-based partners for this opportunity to enable the VA’s world class healthcare strategy.”

“Oleen is excited about the opportunity to work with SurgiDat and InterSystems to deliver a new generation of process control in surgical instrument management to the VA, said Mark Plitman, Oleen Vice President of Account Services.  ”We are very pleased that InterSystems, which provides the CACHÉ database technology platform for SurgiDat, helped to establish a strong business relationship that works positively for everyone involved,” he said.

“The combination of InterSystems’ high-performance object database technology, Oleen’s consulting expertise and SurgiDat’s rich features and capabilities ensures the success of this initiative,” said Todd Kemp, MSD CEO. “We are delighted to partner with these healthcare technology leaders for the long term.”

About InterSystems

InterSystems Corporation is a global software technology leader with headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and offices in 22 countries. InterSystems provides innovative products that enable fast development, deployment, and integration of enterprise-class applications. InterSystems CACHÉ® is a high performance object database that makes applications faster and more scalable. InterSystems Ensemble® is a rapid integration platform that enriches applications with new functionality, and makes them connectable. InterSystems HealthShare™ is a platform that leverages existing healthcare applications to rapidly create regional or national electronic health records.
InterSystems is the world’s #1 vendor of database and integration technologies for healthcare applications, with its products used by most major hospitals and labs, including America’s 10 best hospitals as rated by U.S. News and World Report. For more information, visit InterSystems.com .

About SurgiDat

SurgiDat Corporation, in Stamford, Conn., is an IT software company, with its core business focus on inventory automation in healthcare. As a Web-based application, SurgiDat software interfaces to multiple hospital systems to provide an organization with the comprehensive SurgiDat Inventory Automation solution for surgical inventory management, including point of use allocation and billable item capture. SurgiDat’s laser bonding method for marking surgical instruments with a barcode enables complete stock visibility and increases patient safety with validation of sterile process against use on a patient. For additional information, visit www.SurgiDat.com.

About Oleen

Oleen is a healthcare consulting firm specializing in information management. Our clients include all types of healthcare organizations, from integrated delivery systems to HMO’s, medical practices, and hospitals. Since 1988, Oleen has assisted clients with every aspect of the information management process including project management, analysis, business process reengineering, implementations, conversions, custom programming, training, EDI, and facilities management.  Oleen services clients from corporate offices in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.  For more information, call 800.248.9534 or visit our website at www.oleen.com.

Oleen and Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting Announce Merger

Combined companies will bring expanded service offerings and expertise to the market

Silver Spring, MD and Little Rock, AR – Oleen, an information technology consulting firm to the healthcare industry, and Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting, an organization of independent seasoned healthcare executives, announced today their intent to merge organizations effective immediately.  Dick Oleen will retain his role as CEO while Pete Biagioni, current Managing Partner of Pinnacle, will become President of the new organization which will be called Oleen Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting

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“We’re very excited about the possibilities this merger represents,” said Dick Oleen, CEO of Oleen.  “The professional services that Oleen provides combined with the in-depth management consulting experience that Pinnacle brings to the equation offer many advantages.”  Pete Biagioni added, “The synergy and compatibility of our two organizations is clear.  By merging Oleen and Pinnacle, we’ll be able to provide our clients expanded management consulting and professional services from a single organization.”

About Oleen

Oleen is a healthcare consulting firm specializing in information management. Our clients include all types of healthcare organizations, from integrated delivery systems to HMO’s, medical practices, and hospitals. Since 1988, Oleen has assisted clients with every aspect of the information management process including project management, analysis, business process reengineering, implementations, conversions, custom programming, training, EDI, and facilities management.  Oleen services clients from corporate offices in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.  For more information, call 800.248.9534 or visit our website at www.oleen.com.

About Pinnacle Healthcare Consulting

Pinnacle is a healthcare consulting firm specializing in information technology and operational improvements.  Services include strategic planning, management consulting in all phases of information technology, temporary management fulfillment, mergers and acquisitions, system procurements including business process outsourcing (BPO), operations management, project management, business process reengineering, provider network development, executive search, HIPAA, Consumer Directed Healthcare product implementation and more.  Pinnacle’s clients consist of healthcare payers, medical group practices, institutional providers and integrated delivery systems and specialty healthcare organizations.  For more information, please visit our website at www.pinnhc.com.