The University of South Florida College of Public Health has lined up a full week of events and activities for 2009 National Public Health Week, from March 27 through April 7, which is World Health Day.

Taking a cue from the national celebration with its theme “Building the Foundation for a Healthy America,” COPH is kicking off the week with a focus on youth in a public health teach-in. The week also includes activities centered around wellness with a fun walk and health fair on March 27 featuring Nicole Johnson, Miss America 1999 and a USF alumna.

These are just a few of the many options taking place. Click here to check out the full schedule of USF's Public Health Week activities.

Donna Petersen, (far right) ScD, dean of the College of Public Health, and Miss America 1999 Nicole Johnson (second from right), a USF alumna, led a Fun Walk around the college's campus, ending with a health fair outside the Chiles Center (below).

- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications (top) and Ellen Kent

Janine Overcash, PhD, ARNP

In teaching nursing students the intricacies of doing patient assessments, Janine Overcash, PhD, ARNP, makes it clear that the typical patient is not what is depicted on Grey's Anatomy. "Older patients are the primary consumers of health care services. I try to sensitize student to the fact that much of the time, as a nurse in a hospital setting, that's who they will be seeing," says Overcash, an assistant professor of nursing at USF Health.

In addition, if current demographic trends continue, cancer will become primarily a disease of older individuals, she says. And that means nursing students must focus on combining the principles of caring for the elderly with the special circumstances involved in caring for the older person with cancer — Overcash’s area of expertise, as well as her passion.

“I have always wanted to be a nurse,” says Overcash. “I became interested in aging and care of older adults while in high school volunteering in a nursing home.” During graduate school at USF, she conducted research in aging and advancing nursing care of the older adult, specifically geriatric assessment, and working at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center focused her on geriatric oncology. The recipient of a prestigious Hartford Foundation post-doctoral fellowship, Overcash has published widely on topics including aging, the role of the nurse in geriatric oncology, older women with breast cancer, constructing comprehensive geriatric assessments and geriatric nursing protocols for best practice.

Overcash says that the curriculum in USF’s College of Nursing is demanding, but students are highly motivated and committed to achievement. She particularly enjoys teaching undergraduates and sharing stories about her experiences as a young nurse. “We work hard but we laugh a lot, too.”

That sense of camaraderie along with an office door that is always open to students enables Overcash to carry out what she believes is one of the most important roles of a university professor — mentorship — including modeling a positive outlook towards the nursing profession. “One of the first things my students hear me say is how much I love nursing.”

She also loves her teaching at USF. “USF provides the tools for academic success for students as well as faculty,” she says. “It’s an energetic and positive place to work.”

Julie Contes stood in front of the Match Day crowd at Skipper's Smokehouse Thursday and opened the envelope that would determine her future.

And then she froze.

Contes stood quiet for so long that her mother wondered why she didn't just speak up, and tell everyone where her residency would be.

But Contes just stared, her eyes welling with tears.

The crowd didn't know, but Contes was looking at a piece of paper that only looked like the real thing. "Congratulations, you have matched," it began, under official-looking letterhead.

"Program name: Love. Institution: Marriage."

Under that, two words, three question marks.

Dr. Steven Specter, associate dean for student affairs, gently prompted her: "Read it, Julie," he said.

But he's not here, she wanted to say.

She read aloud the two words on the page.

"Marry me."

Skipper's erupted in cheers and applause, as Contes' boyfriend, 2006 USF College of Medicine graduate Johnny Gibbs, strode to the front, holding out The Box.

More cheers, as he went down on one knee. Contes was shaking so hard that Gibbs could hardly put the ring on her finger.

But then, she had thought Gibbs was in Texas, on call as an orthopedics resident.

"Oh my God," she said. More tears. More applause.

Gibbs took months to plan the proposal. After three years of long-distance dating, he wanted Contes to know that he hoped to marry her no matter where in the country that Match Day sent her. And he wanted it to be a complete surprise.

First he called Dr. Specter, to make sure he felt it would be appropriate. Then Gibbs bought the ring, three months in advance.

Then there were the elaborate apologies to Contes for having to miss Match Day, and the lies about how he tried to get somebody to cover his shift. In Texas, the plans for what to say if Contes called the hospital ("He's in surgery.") Finally the trip here, and hiding out in the car outside Skipper's to make sure she didn't spot him beforehand.

Gibbs had it all arranged, right down to making sure that Contes' name would be eleventh in line - her lucky number.

So after all that, the real envelope was a little anti-climactic. But with the crowd still cheering, Contes finally opened that one too. It held more good news: She'll do her anesthesiology residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. That means she and Gibbs will finally be together.

As the couple walked away from the stage, Specter gave the final verdict.

I don't think most of you heard her answer, he told the crowd.

It was yes.

-- Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications
-- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications
-- Filmed and Edited by Jean-Rene Rinvil, USF Health Communications

RELATED ARTICLES:
- The waiting is the hardest part
- USF COM Class of 2009 Match Results
- National Residency Match Program, 2009 Stats

USF College of Medicine graduate Jillian Glass, MD, (2000) is one of four mothers making up a panel for MSN.COM’s web series “Mom’s Homeroom,” an on-line program aimed at giving parents valuable information on raising their children.

Sitting on a couch with a kitchen set in the background, the panel of moms chats about the on-going challenges parents face while raising their children, including homework, bullying and nutrition issues.

Dr. Glass was selected from the hundreds who auditioned for the series, which is filmed in Orlando.

In addition to Dr. Glass, who is a child psychiatrist in Tampa and a volunteer faculty member with the USF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the panel includes a teacher, another physician and a stay-at-home mom, all from the Orlando area.

“We all talk from a parent’s perspective,” Dr. Glass said. “We pull some ideas from our professions and include helpful tips in our conversations, but don’t speak as ‘doctor’ or ‘teacher.’ Our voices are as parents.”

The moms also vary in the educational choices they are making for their children, with two choosing public schools, one choosing private religious school, and the fourth choosing homeschooling.

This variety of backgrounds and educational choices brings variety to the conversations and seems to help offer multiple options for tackling parenting challenges.

Short biographies, also on the web site, help the web audience get to know each of the moms a bit more. So far, segments have touched on homework tips and bullying. A blog on the web site helps keep the conversation going.

So what was it like for Dr. Glass, who doesn’t have a background in broadcast media, to audition, go on a studio set, and allow cameras into her home to film her husband and two daughters?

“It’s been a blast,” Dr. Glass said. “The concept is working women with different backgrounds sharing ideas and experiences to help other parents. And my family is enjoying it, too.”

Dr. Glass graduated from the USF College of Medicine in 2000. She completed her general adult psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at the USF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, where she served as chief resident for both programs.  Her husband is Frank Glass, MD, professor in the USF Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery.

Medical student Lonna Gordon talks about her Match Day hopes....

The waiting is almost over. The crowd has all packed into Skipper's Smokehouse - medical  students, their husbands, wives, parents, even a few babies.

The air hums with expectation.

Soon they will know. And they will celebrate the next stage in their lives on the long journey to becoming a doctor.

"This has just been a long day in coming," says student Jessica Keshishian. "It sort of symbolizes the culmination of everything."

Even if the news isn't what they want to hear.

But soon they will know.

Over 57 years, Match Day has become a quirky tradition at medical schools across the country. On the same day, nearly 30,000 young people find out whether they will receive graduate medical training in the program of their choice.

All at once, they will know: their hopes fulfilled or their dreams crushed.

***
Jonathan and Jessica Kesheshian talk about the couples match...

It's Wednesday, and in one more day, they will know.

"It's a mixed emotion of being excited and being nervous," says student Lonna Gordon. "You worry about, ‘Did I make the right decision?'...But it's out of my hands. It's in God's hands at this point."

Gordon is seeking a residency in pediatrics. She's waiting to see whether she'll get her top choice, the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston. She loves the history of the city and the closeness to the beach. Next on the list: Orlando Health, Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, and USF.

By now, most students know they have matched somewhere . The question is whether it's where they want to be. Each year, a few days before Match Day, the students who haven't matched to a program are told in advance, giving them a few days to "scramble" for the open spots in residency programs around the country.

Everyone is thinking about it, but talking about it can be awkward.

"It's a very public thing, but at the same time, it's a very private thing," Gordon says. "Some people don't want to say where their top choice is."

For Jessica and Jonathan Keshishian, the anxiety is doubled. They're the only married couple in the class, so they're seeking two spots in the same program: USF, the University of Florida, or Orlando Health.

"The match is scary," Jessica says.

Jonathan jokes that he has no worries. Jessica is so smart, he says, that he can go anywhere.

"I love being couples matched to her," he says. "Anywhere I want to go will be like, ‘Oh,yeah, you can come, just because we want your wife.' "

***
The Day arrives for Jonathan and Jessica...

The day arrives, and the waiting is almost done. Student Jason Jennings is shooting for the stars. He wants to go into orthopedics, which has become one of the nation's most popular specialties. And his first choice is Duke, one of the nation's top programs. Jennings didn't set out to pick a competitive specialty; he was a physical therapist before med school, so it was a natural choice.

Now, at Skipper's, he's philosophical.

"You just do what you can do, and everything will take care of itself," he said.

On the other side of Skipper's, Jessica Keshishian can't stand it anymore.

"Some schools go out to dinner, and everyone opens up their envelopes at the same time," she said. "This is nerve-racking, one by one."

It's about to get worse.

Finally, it begins. Dr. Stephen Klasko, dean of the USF College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health, welcomes them all, and tells them they're the best class ever. President Judy Genshaft congratulates them.

The envelopes start going out.  One to a student wearing this T-shirt: "Trust me, I'm a doctor." Students find out they're heading to USF, Brown, Cedars-Sinai. Still, the Keshishians, Lonna Gordon, Jason Jennings, all are waiting.

One woman jumps up and down with glee. "Honey, we can buy the house," a woman calls out, when she sees she's going to USF.

Then it's the Keshishians. They open their envelopes together.

"You're stuck with us another three years!" Jessica yells. They're staying at USF.

Emory, UCSF, USF again. Finally, Dr. Steven Specter, associate dean of student affairs, calls out: Jason Jennings. Jennings reads the envelope.

Then he smiles as he tells the crowd: Orthopedics...Duke.

Then another student to USF, then Wake Forest. It's Gordon's turn.

"Orlando Health," she tells the crowd.

It's her second choice, but she claps her hands as she walks back to her family. Her mother gives her balloons and flowers. Hugs all around.

Lonna embraces her future as a medical doctor...

It's all over, and there are pictures and photos and more hugs. "It was great," Jennings says.

Jessica Keshishian can't stop smiling.

"We got exactly what we wanted," she grins.

Now they know.

- Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications
- Slide Show Production by Klaus Herdocia, USF Health Communications

RELATED ARTICLES:
- Congratulations, you have have matched
- USF COM Class of 2009 Match Results
- National Residency Match Program, 2009 Stats

Click here for PaperFree Tampa Bay webpage...

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Dr. Stephen K. Klasko, USF Health CEO and Dean, College of Medicine, University of South Florida

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US Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa

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Glen Tullman, Allscripts CEO

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 L to R: Glen Tullman, Allscripts CEO; Dr. Stephen K. Klasko, USF Health CEO; and Dr. Larry Glazerman, Director of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at USF Health.

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L to R: Kathy Castor, U.S. Representative (D-Tampa), with University of South Florida medical students Courtney Bovee and Kimberly Wollett.

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Carol Morsani, left, and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor.

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L to R: Pam Iorio, Mayor of Tampa; Richard Beard, former Chair of University of South Florida Board of Trustees; Rhea Law, Chair of USF Board of Trustees; and Glen Tullman, Allscripts CEO.

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L to R: Lesley Miller, Director of Community Relations at the University of South Florida; U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor; Richard Beard, former Chair of USF Board of Trustees; and USF President Judy Genshaft.

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Dr. Stephen K. Klasko, USF Health CEO and Dean of the College of Medicine, University of South Florida, announces the PaperFree Tampa Bay initiative.

Click here for PaperFree Tampa Bay webpage...

Dr. Stephen Klasko wants to change the world.

One electronic prescription at a time.

Dr. Klasko, CEO of USF Health, was joined Monday by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and Glen Tullman, the CEO of Allscripts, as well as other health and political leaders to kick off an ambitious campaign. The goal: to convert every single doctor in the 10-county region surrounding Tampa Bay to electronic prescribing.

"We're here today to start a revolution," Dr. Klasko, who also is dean of the USF College of Medicine, told the group Monday on the USF campus. "An electronic revolution in health care that will begin right here in Tampa Bay and echo across the entire nation."

Workers for the campaign, PaperFree Tampa Bay, will personally visit 10,000 doctors, helping them learn how to write prescriptions electronically - the first step to making all their patients' health records electronic.

With Castor's support, the USF and Allscripts partnership is requesting federal stimulus dollars from the economic recovery plan to hire and train 132 "electronic health care ambassadors" to fan out over a 10-county area. Castor said that USF "is the logical place to start" the nation's first regional initiative aiming to invest recovery dollars in health care technology.

"PaperFree Tampa Bay is exactly what's intended by the recovery plan," Castor said. "It's going to create jobs - high-wage jobs...the high-wage jobs we need in the Tampa Bay area."

USF and Allscripts will start hiring and training workers immediately, Dr. Klasko said. Until the partnership wins stimulus money, those ambassadors will start by working closer to home in Hillsborough County. Then the effort will expand to DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota.

Castor also praised the plan for its ability to reduce prescribing mistakes. Such mistakes can be deadly, killing an estimated 7,000 Americans a year. Electronic prescribing can drastically cut medication errors due to misreading the names or doses in handwritten prescriptions. Electronic records also would protect patients from drug interactions and allow doctors to have more complete health histories on their patients.

"I'm sure some of you still get scribbled prescriptions," Dr. Klasko told the group. "And you say, ‘Gosh, I hope my pharmacist can read this.' "

Imagine if, instead, your doctor used electronic health records, Dr. Klasko said. You could even reach your doctor during the weekend at a kid's soccer game. Your prescription could be sent to your pharmacy from an iPhone.

"They can take care of you quickly and efficiently, and watch their kid score a goal at the same time," Dr. Klasko joked.

Yet now, even though such technology is already available, fewer than 10 percent of America's doctors use electronic prescriptions. The challenge is getting them to make the switch, said Glen Tullman, CEO of Allscripts, the nation's largest e-prescribing vendor.

"It takes more than software," Tullman said.

The key is giving those doctors personal training, Tullman said. The campaign will provide Allscripts e-prescribing software to doctors free of charge.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio was among the leaders who came to Monday's event to support the plan. She imagines fast changes in health care, she said.

"This is something we'll have to explain to our children - that doctors wrote on a prescription pad," she said.

 Iorio said Tampa "should be a center of innovation" and praised USF for leading the way.

"The university does such a magnificent job, with President Genshaft, of taking that intellectual capital and turning it into entrepreneurial innovation," Iorio said.

The partnership announced the plan outside USF's Carol and Frank Morsani Center for Advanced HealthCare, which has its own Sweetbay Pharmacy on the first floor. Dr. Larry Glazerman, USF's director of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, demonstrated for the crowd how he could write a prescription for an imaginary patient on his iPhone.

Dr. Glazerman sent the prescription to Sweetbay, which delivered his order of naproxen moments later.

Other doctors came from outside USF to support the effort as well. Dr. Madelyn Butler, vice president of the Florida Medical Association and general managing partner of the Women's Group, the Tampa Bay ob/gyn practice, said community doctors will welcome the campaign.

"Physicians basically want to do what's right for their patients," she said. "The critical component that's going to make it work is the one-on-one implementation."

Dr. Jim Morrow is a Georgia doctor who has won national recognition for going electronic early. Doctors need personal advocates to help them make a shift that's not just technical, but cultural, he said.

"It's not the money, it's not the technology, it's that doctors have to change," Dr. Morrow said. "These ambassadors will make the difference."

Doctors often worry that bringing electronics into the exam room will put a barrier between them and their patients. But Dr. Morrow said he's found the opposite.

"After a short period of time of adjustment, it becomes second nature," he said. "Your interaction is improved because you have to spend less time flipping through the chart. If you want to know when your patient got a DPT shot, you just touch the screen."

Doctors will be getting extra motivation to make the switch. Starting in 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will pay them more to use electronic health records. Federal law also will pay them about $3,500 more to doctors who e-prescribe now and will start to penalize those who don't by 2012.

As a physician, Dr. Klasko said he knows that such a large-scale change won't be easy for doctors.

"We're here to support you in breaking down the barriers we know you face," he said. He urged doctors to "challenge ourselves...to make Tampa Bay the first paperfree health community in the nation."

Ultimately, Tullman said, Tampa Bay has an opportunity to be a model for the nation. Other communities around the country are watching to see what happens here, he said.

 "When we look back two or three years from now," Tullman said, "We'll say today was the day we saw health care change."

- Story by Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications
- Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

USF study suggests pressing need to reduce major stroke risk factors in African Americans

Tampa FL (March 13, 2009) -- In Florida, black young adults are hospitalized for stroke at a rate three times higher than their white and Hispanic peers, a new study by University of South Florida researchers reports. The study was presented today at the American Heart Association’s Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Annual Conference and appears in an advance online version of the international journal Neuroepidemiology.

Disparities in stroke outcomes between black and white patients have been widely reported for years. While overall death rates for stroke are down, blacks bear a disproportionate burden of disease, disability and death from strokes, said lead author Elizabeth Barnett Pathak, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology at the USF College of Public Health.

“Our study shows this black-white disparity hasn’t improved. In fact, it’s clear that the gap emerges even at relatively young ages – among adults hospitalized for strokes in their 20s and 30s – and widens with increasing age,” Dr. Pathak said. “It points toward an urgent need for primary prevention of hypertension, obesity, and other stroke risk factors among African Americans to eliminate disparities in stroke.”

While most strokes occur among the elderly, stroke in young adults can lead to chronic illness and disability that places a terrible burden on the victims and their families, said Michael Sloan, MD, professor of neurology and director of the USF Stroke Program at Tampa General Hospital. “If the stroke is severe it can be very debilitating, impacting the ability of young people to work and raise their families.”

And even in young adults strokes can be fatal. The Florida study found 8 to 10 percent of stroke patients died before discharge from the hospital.

The USF researchers examined more than 16,000 stroke cases of young adults hospitalized for stroke in Florida from 2001 through 2006. The study included men and women, ages 25 to 49, from the three largest ethnic groups in Florida: whites, blacks and Hispanics. Among the findings:

• The age-adjusted stroke hospitalization rate for blacks was three times higher than for whites or Hispanics. Stroke hospitalization rates for Hispanics were similar to those for whites.

• The rates at which hospitalized stroke patients died were 15 percent higher for blacks than whites, but this disparity was explained by a greater prevalence of stroke risk factors and complicating illnesses such as diabetes, coronary artery disease and heart failure.

• In contrast, Hispanic stroke patients were 27 percent less likely to die in the hospital than whites after taking risk factors and other illnesses into account. More studies are needed to determine whether Hispanic ethnicity actually confers any sort of protective advantage, the researchers said.

• Black stroke patients were more likely than whites and Hispanics to have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, morbid obesity or drug abuse. White stroke patients were more likely to have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, alcohol abuse or cigarette smoking.

• The majority of black stroke patients (56 percent) where women, while the majority of Hispanic and white patients were men.

• Hispanics were more likely than blacks and whites to suffer a hemorrhagic stroke, triggered by the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain. As with the elderly, the most common type of stroke in younger adults, known as ischemic stroke, was caused by the obstruction of blood flow to the brain.

While the USF study did not find an increase (or decrease) in young adults hospitalized for stroke in Florida, Dr. Sloan is concerned that tough economic times could lead to rise in strokes and other cardiovascular incidents. “If people stop taking their blood pressure pills and other medications because they can no longer afford it, they may have a stroke or heart attack,” he said.

- USF Health -

USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With more than $360 million in research grants and contracts last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

For more information on Recovery Act funding opportunities, go to http://health.usf.edu/research/home.html.

USF Health faculty are invited to a meeting 4:30 to 6 p.m. this Wednesday, March 11, in MDL 1005 (USF Health Bookstore Courtyard) for a briefing on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The meeting will provide an overview of the many funding possibilities with this legislation, and address how both USF Health and the University Office of Research are coordinating this information and organizing to provide as much help as possible to faculty planning on submitting grant applications.

Announcements from the federal government are issued on a daily basis, with deadlines as early as April 27, 2009.

The meeting could serve to secure writing teams for some of the potential areas such as construction and renovation grants, and scientific instrumentation applications.

Faculty are encouraged to attend. Staff from both Dr. Karen Holbrook’s Office and the USF Health Office of Research will be available to address questions and discuss plans to manage the large number of grant proposals expected to be submitted by the University over the next couple of months.

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Electronic Media Kit

• PaperFree Tampa Bay story
• Press Release
• PaperFree Fact Sheet
• Time Magazine Article
• What They're Saying Quotes
• Kathy Castor Bio
• Stephen Klasko Bio
• Glen E. Tullman Bio
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Tampa Bay Becomes First Community to Jump-Start
America’s E-Health Revolution

PaperFree Tampa Bay to Convert 10,000 Regional Physicians to E-Prescribing as First Step Toward Connected Electronic Health Records

TAMPA, FL (March 16, 2009) – A new public/private partnership called PaperFree Tampa Bay, armed with strong Congressional support, today launched a plan to jump-start America’s electronic health revolution. PaperFree Tampa Bay will deploy more than 100 “electronic healthcare ambassadors” with a goal to convert 100 percent of physicians in the Tampa Bay area from paper prescriptions, known to be the cause of costly medical errors, to electronic prescribing. The effort is a first step toward the implementation of Connected Electronic Health Records (EHR) to improve patient safety and reduce costs, and intends to leverage funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa) voiced her support for the funding at a press conference announcing the initiative which was attended by a broad array of healthcare, business and government leaders from across the Bay area.

“The intent of the Recovery Act is jobs, jobs, jobs,” Congresswoman Castor said. “The Recovery Act calls for the creation of short-term jobs in the community while providing long-term economic stability. If funded, this University of South Florida electronic prescriptions project will create more than a hundred jobs for people who will work alongside physicians in the 10-county area. That will help in the long term as well, especially by improving our health care system.”

“Our community will thrive in the long run with these high-wage health industry jobs,” Castor said. “Through this project, we also are reinvesting in the future in science and technology.”

Castor indicated she felt the partnership is positioned to receive funding from a portion of the $2 billion in discretionary funds available to the Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Recovery Act. A number of key stakeholders, including USF Health and Allscripts, will fund the initial phase, which will target Hillsborough County’s 3,200 physicians. Once the recovery dollars become available, the program will be expanded to the entire 10-county Tampa Bay region, including the counties of DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota, which will allow additional hiring to occur.

PaperFree Tampa Bay anticipates that the program will create132 new jobs: 111 trainers and 21 support staff.

Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer of USF Health and Dean of the USF College of Medicine, commented, “We are taking President Obama’s vision of an interoperable electronic healthcare system that provides higher quality healthcare more cost-effectively and making it a reality today in Tampa Bay.” Dr. Klasko added, “It’s not about the hardware or the software – it’s about changing the DNA of healthcare. We’re talking about transforming the healthcare system one doctor’s office at a time.”

Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts, the leading provider of Electronic Health Records with a client base of nearly one-third of the nation’s practicing physicians and the largest electronic prescribing vendor, called PaperFree Tampa Bay “the first program in a U.S. metropolitan area to implement the promise of President Obama’s vision of safe, efficient 21st century electronic care.” He added that discussions are underway with other communities in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Iowa that are planning to follow PaperFree Tampa Bay’s lead, and Allscripts is actively enrolling other client partners and cities across the nation in similar programs.

“This will be a proof of concept that can become a model for the entire nation to help physicians quickly and easily transition from paper-based care to electronic health records and in so doing take advantage of federal incentives for their adoption,” said Tullman.

Federal law empowers the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to pay physicians between $44,000 and $64,000 over five years, beginning in 2011, for deploying and using a certified Electronic Health Record to care for patients. In addition, federal law provides approximately $3,500 in annual financial incentives for doctors who e-prescribe now and will impose penalties on those who do not e-prescribe by 2012.

Electronic prescribing is a key component of EHR technology, and stand-alone e-prescribing solutions are widely viewed as the quickest and easiest means for physicians to transition from paper medical records to fully electronic records.

“It’s a relatively easy first step for physicians and a logical place to start because of the huge cost – in dollars and human lives – of our current system of handwritten prescriptions that are hand-delivered to the pharmacy,” said Dr. Klasko.

Less than 10 percent of physicians in the U.S. currently write prescriptions electronically. PaperFree Tampa Bay will aim to get physicians on board by providing Allscripts web-based ePrescribe™ software free of charge and offering personalized outreach and one-on-one training to help doctors make the transition. The training curriculum will draw on groundbreaking research conducted at USF Health on how physicians respond to change.

Dr. Klasko noted that PaperFree Tampa Bay has set a bold goal – 100 percent physician participation – for an important reason. “The time to transform healthcare is now – we can’t afford to wait,” he said. “No doctor should feel comfortable that they are practicing the highest quality medicine in Tampa Bay if they are still hand-writing prescriptions.

"PaperFree Tampa Bay’s vision for the region-wide program is that by the end of the effort, 100 percent of Bay-area physicians will be registered and trained on ePrescribe, 60 percent of eligible prescriptions will be written electronically, and 100 percent of physicians will be introduced to EHR technology.

Tullman added, “We hope the combination of our offering, onsite training, and the new Medicare incentives will eliminate the obstacles and help Tampa Bay physicians embrace electronic prescriptions. This initiative will transform the entire region into one in which all prescriptions can be wirelessly transmitted to the pharmacy, delivering a simple yet comprehensive solution to a key public safety issue, and providing an on-ramp to a complete Electronic Health Record.

"According to an Institute of Medicine study, 1.5 million Americans are injured each year and 7,000 die from preventable medication errors. Benefits of e-prescribing include eliminating errors due to illegible handwriting, creating electronic records to ensure prescription information is not lost, checking for allergies and drug interactions, and reducing costs by improving efficiency and identifying less-expensive drug options.

Allscripts ePrescribe is a Web-based solution that requires no download, no new hardware, and minimal training. The product, currently used by more than 30,000 prescribers nationwide to write millions of prescriptions annually, can quickly generate secure electronic prescriptions and deliver them to the patient's pharmacy of choice.

This new partnership builds on the foundation laid by the National ePrescribing Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI), a broad-based national coalition led by Dell Computers and Allscripts. NEPSI is comprised of healthcare, technology and provider companies dedicated to positively impacting the national prescribing process through electronic prescribing delivery. USF Health is a regional supporter of NEPSI.

About USF Health
USF Health is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With more than $360 million in research grants and contracts last year, USF is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community-engaged, four-year public universities designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

About Allscripts
Allscripts uses innovation technology to bring health to healthcare. More than 150,000 physicians, 700 hospitals and nearly 7,000 post-acute and homecare organizations utilize Allscripts to improve the health of their patients and their bottom line. The company's award-winning solutions include electronic health records, electronic prescribing, revenue cycle management, practice management, document management, medication services, hospital care management, emergency department information systems and homecare automation. Allscripts is the brand name of Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Statements regarding future events, developments, the Company’s future performance, as well as management’s expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, estimates or projections relating to the future are forward-looking statements within the meaning of these laws. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are outlined below. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are: the volume and timing of systems sales and installations; length of sales cycles and the installation process; the possibility that products will not achieve or sustain market acceptance; the timing, cost and success or failure of new product and service introductions, development and product upgrade releases; competitive pressures including product offerings, pricing and promotional activities; our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships; undetected errors or similar problems in our software products; compliance with existing laws, regulations and industry initiatives and future changes in laws or regulations in the healthcare industry; possible regulation of the Company’s software by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; the possibility of product-related liabilities; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; our ability to identify and complete acquisitions, manage our growth and integrate acquisitions; the ability to recognize the benefits of the merger with Misys Healthcare Systems, LLC (“MHS”); the integration of MHS with the Company and the possible disruption of current plans and operations as a result thereof; maintaining our intellectual property rights and litigation involving intellectual property rights; risks related to third-party suppliers; our ability to obtain, use or successfully integrate third-party licensed technology; breach of our security by third parties; and the risk factors detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K available through the Web site maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Contacts

Susanna Martinez Tarokh
University of South Florida - USF Health
(o) 813-974-2776
Smartin1@health.usf.edu

Todd Stein
Allscripts
(o)916-452-1652
(c) 510-417-0612
todd.stein@allscripts.com

Laura Mulhern
Hill & Knowlton
(c) 717-991-8509
Laura.mulhern@hillandknowlton.com