Kentucky Group Signs Wismer Deal Health Information Network Will Include 14 Counties

A Kentucky medical services company has contracted with Wismer Martin Corp. to establish a health care information network that officials say will eventually cover the eastern half of the state.

Lewis County Primary Care Center has hired the Spokanebased medical software company to install the first phase of the health care information network. This initial phase of the project will include the electronic linking of two hospitals and several rural clinics, Wismer Martin announced Monday.

Lewis County Primary Care Center has used Wismer Martin software in several of its local physician practices and clinics over the past five years.

Ron Holden, Wismer Martin’s chief executive officer, said the contract demonstrates the company’s abilities to serve the interests of both its customers and its shareholders.

“We are extremely enthusiastic about our ability to assist Lewis County in achieving their strategic objectives,” Holden said Monday. “As we demonstrate that we can replicate our technology and methodologies in other parts of the country all of our constituencies benefit, employees, customers and shareholders alike.”

Wismer Martin, which has a customer base of 4,000 physicians and 65 hospitals throughout the United States, has suffered setbacks during the past six months. The company has lost about $1.5 million during the past two quarters of the fiscal year, and has seen several key executives and support personnel resign.

So the Lewis County contract represents an important step in the company’s efforts to establish its continuing viability.

“We are pleased to be expanding our relationship with Wismer Martin,” Jerry Ugrin, executive director of Lewis County Primary Care Center, said in the news release. “Our experience with their products and services over the past few years has been very positive.”

Ugrin said that over the next year, the network will be extended to cover a 14-county area encompassing six hospitals and 320 physicians.

“We are confident in partnering with Wismer to implement this strategic initiative to improve health care in our region and in the state of Kentucky.”

Health care information networks link hospitals, physicians, insurers and other health care providers into a single computer network. The networks have both administrative and clinical capabilities, and can produce significant cost savings through the elimination of duplicated services and procedures.

Wismer Martin and Medical Services Corp. of Eastern Washington established such a network for the Spokane area as a proving ground for Wismer Martin’s health care information network software.

Holden and other company officials say the information network product will represent the principal thrust of Wismer Martin’s sales activities in the future.

The company also has similar network contracts with Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska, and with the University of Tennessee.