Sparks Health System to use ‘cloud’ records management

Sparks Health System, a division of Health Management Associates (HMA), will join the more than 300 locations nationwide in moving to a cloud-based records management system.

HMA announced last week (July 18) it would partner with athenahealth, Inc., to bring cloud-based physician billing, electronic health records, and “on-demand, automated, and live communication services to support and streamline patient-physician interactions outside of the exam room,” the release states.

“Emerging incentive programs and new federal reform laws place more importance on having the most effective clinical and financial solutions in place than in the past," said Dr. Ron Riner, Chief Medical Officer for Health Management Associates. "Most physicians see the benefit of migrating to an electronic health record system. We made sure our physicians were actively engaged in the selection process, as they will ultimately be the ones adopting these solutions to improve patient care in their communities.”

“We are excited for the opportunity to work with one of the nation's largest and most progressive hospital companies,” said Jonathan Bush, Chairman and CEO of athenahealth.

Bush continued: “Health Management's physician network will benefit from the power of cloud technology to constantly iterate and extrapolate from the collective clinical and operational knowledge and best practices of thousands of medical groups around the nation already on the athenaNet platform, in turn enabling them to pull out greater efficiencies from their clinical operations. The shared goal is to support physicians so that they can deliver the best care possible.”

Sparks' presence in Fort Smith dates back to 1887. HMA purchased Sparks in 2009.

athenahealth, a web-based healthcare practice management company, began in 1997 and features four locations in Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Maine.