RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ – Long known for its background in imaging and radiology solutions, Agfa HealthCare is entering the American EMR market with the launch of its ORBIS platform at Sampson Regional Medical Center in Clinton, N.C.
SRMC, a 146-bed hospital with a staff of 750 and three remote clinics, has signed a letter of understanding to install the ORBIS Care solution, a series of nursing clinical modules for point-of-care clinical documentation, flow sheet charting and care planning. It’s the first in a planned series of four roll-outs at institutions this year, and the first year of a multi-year phase-in of Agfa’s ORBIS product in America.
“We’re taking the most important (segments) of our portfolio, according to customer needs, and tailoring them to the American market,” said Lenny Reznik, Director of Agfa HealthCare.
Based in Belgium, Agfa has rolled out ORBIS in more than 750 healthcare institutions in nine countries to date, primarily in Germany and Austria. Reznik says the company is recognized as the No. 1 EMR provider in Europe, and plans to roll out more of the 80+ clinical applications contained in ORBIS to the American market over time.
Those applications will cover such initiatives as computerized physician order entry, electronic health records, electronic prescriptions, continuity of care records and regional healthcare information organizations.
For now, he said, the company will focus on Enterprise Scheduling, Enterprise Clinical Portal, Clinical Paths and the Clinical Data Center.
SRMC will be installing ORBIS components that focus on nursing documentation, flow sheet charting, care planning, the ICU module, document management, order entry and results reporting.
In a company press release, hospital CIO David Ziolkowski pointed out that SRMC and Agfa have had a long-standing relationship through the hospital’s use of Agfa radiology solutions.
According to Reznik, Agfa representatives discussed expanding its offerings to SRMC roughly two years ago. He said Agfa wanted to begin its roll-out of the ORBIS platform with a community hospital, rather than a university hospital, to emphasize the value of community-based healthcare.