OmniMD, of Tarrytown, N.Y., has donated the use of its electronic health record technology valued at $7.6 million to Quinnipiac University, as part of a four-year agreement announced today.
Representatives of Quinnipiac’s Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences are working with OmniMD to develop an electronic health record system that will be used by faculty and students in each of the three schools.
Divan Dave, CEO and founder of OmniMD, said, “OmniMD has benefited from the need for software in the health care industry. This is our opportunity to give back to the next generation of providers. We are truly honored to be a part of Quinnipiac’s health education mission.”
Jim Nelson, vice president of sales at OmniMD, said, “Through this technology partnership with Quinnipiac, students will learn how to master medical technology and to use it to improve the quality of care while maintaining workflow. Graduates of the schools of medicine, nursing and health sciences will arrive in the job market, not only having had great training, but also with the electronic medical record skills that will improve the quality of care they’ll be able to deliver.”
Under the agreement, OmniMD will provide more than 3,600 software licenses to faculty and students over four years. Students will be able to use the software free of charge while they are enrolled at Quinnipiac. The electronic health records can be used as part of classroom training, testing, coursework, class assignments, mock clinics, labs, testing and scheduling.
“Wireless technology, medical software and electronic health records have transformed how health care is practiced, delivered and managed for optimal quality,” said Dr. Bruce Koeppen, founding dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for health affairs at Quinnipiac. “OmniMD’s generous gift will provide the schools of medicine, nursing and health sciences with a state-of-the-art electronic health record, which will greatly facilitate our efforts related to interprofessional education of the health care teams of the future.”
Quinnipiac’s emphasis is on interdisciplinary education, which calls for training medical, nursing and health sciences students to work together as part of a health care team.
“The analogy is a NASCAR pit crew,” Koeppen said. “Professionals with very specific knowledge and expertise come together as a team to make sure the car is performing at optimal levels. Research in health care suggests that the team approach results in better patient outcomes and improved patient safety.”
Jean Lange, founding dean of the School of Nursing, agreed. “Every member of the health care team has a valuable contribution to make,” she said. “When nurses, physicians and other health providers work together with patients and families in a coordinated approach, patients have better outcomes. We are committed to teaching our students these skills as students, so that will translate to their work environments after graduation.”
Kimberly Hartmann, interim dean of the School of Health Sciences, said, “The OmniMD partnership allows for the School of Health Sciences’ students to have the opportunity to learn with, by and from each other, alongside nursing and medical students. A common electronic health and medical record, such as the OmniMD, allows students to work collaboratively as an interprofessional team to prepare them for the future of quality client-centered, team-based health care.”
OmniMD is a national electronic health record software company with thousands of providers in more than 40 states and five countries. OmniMDs electronic health record software is cloud based and represents the state of the art in the medical software industry. The Tarrytown, N.Y.-based company has 120 programmers and 15 physicians on staff who work to make the product fit its users’ requirements.