CINCINNATI, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MedPlus®, the healthcare information technology subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics® Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), today announced the release of ChartMaxx® V5.5, an upgrade to its industry-leading ChartMaxx document management and imaging solution. With the new optional RAC Manager, ChartMaxx V5.5 helps health care providers tie together electronic forms, discrete data, color coded timers and e-mail alerts, dashboard reports, and release of information functionality to track, respond to, and report on, requests from RAC auditors. According to the KLAS (1) Enterprise DMI: Finding the Right Stepping-Stone to Full EMR report issued on October 21, 2009 (www.KLASresearch.com), MedPlus is the health care industry's number one Document Management & Imaging (DMI) vendor, noted for its ChartMaxx® enterprise-wide electronic patient record system.

The ability to make informed responses to RAC requests is vitally important to health care institutions," said Richard Mahoney, MedPlus president and vice president of Healthcare Information Solutions for Quest Diagnostics. "ChartMaxx V5.5 with RAC Manager empowers health enterprises with a fully integrated system and proven tools that helps them to extract the data they need to manage the RAC process effectively."

ChartMaxx V5.5 RAC Manager integrates workflows and reporting tools and deals with every step in the RAC process from pro-active data mining to reactive steps including disclosing documents from medical records, tracking all levels of the appeals process and providing graphical reports to identify the hospital's risk. The solution provides reliable data for strategic decision making, and reporting tools and e-mail alerts make the potentially numerous processes transparent so productivity issues can be effectively addressed. The RAC Manager provides a pre-built Intelligent e-Form with reports including dashboards, document types, workflow and work lists to enable transparency and tracking for each step of the RAC process.

"Hospitals across the country are actively searching for ways to handle what is a detailed multi-step auditing and appeals process," said Marcia Matthias, corporate director of Health Information for Southern Illinois Healthcare. "With just 45 days to receive, process and return potentially hundreds of records, effective management of RAC audit requests becomes especially critical. If a hospital misses a RAC deadline, overpayment is presumed without an option to appeal. ChartMaxx V5.5 with RAC Manager has our enterprise positioned very well to absorb the requests into our workflow, act swiftly during the appeals process and gain valuable insight into the steps we can take to streamline processes and refine training procedures, potentially reducing the need for future audits."

New Enhancements Grow ChartMaxx V5.5 Capabilities

ChartMaxx V5.5 includes eForms, reporting, workflow, work lists, and release of information - all fully integrated tools that are proven technologies that can be used for many other purposes across the enterprise. ChartMaxx V5.5 optimizes workflow by efficiently collecting, accessing and using clinical, financial and administrative information. ChartMaxx provides authorized users with immediate, concurrent access to records captured from scanned documents, interfaced documents, and discrete data. It facilitates access to available patient information within the organization through one system with one login and customized work lists to automatically route tasks to the right people at the right time. ChartMaxx also integrates seamlessly with the MedPlus Centergy™ suite, which enables clinicians to access patient data in a centralized view aggregated from multiple care sites.

Another enhancement to ChartMaxx version 5.5 requires users to provide a password entry for all signature deficiencies. Previously, ChartMaxx only required a clinician to provide a signature password for the first signature deficiency completed during a session of ChartMaxx Completion. This enhancement helps ChartMaxx V5.5 achieve compliance with the FDA digital signing requirements where an entry must be made for each signature performed while allowing sites to still use the legacy functionality of only one password entry per session wherever appropriate. Other enhancements include additions to Workflow Operator Activity Settings, the ROI viewer, Canadian French language support, and additional Intelligent eForms operating system support of Windows Vista and support for Internet Explorer 8.

For more information about ChartMaxx and other MedPlus solutions, visit www.MedPlus.com.

About MedPlus

MedPlus, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the healthcare information technology subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics®. MedPlus is a leading developer and integrator of clinical connectivity and healthcare information exchange solutions that foster better patient care and improve business performance for healthcare institutions, physicians and patients. The company's Centergy Clinical Portal & Data Exchange Engine and ChartMaxx® solutions efficiently and securely collect, store, manage and integrate clinical information within an organization, enterprise, practice or community. Centergy enables clinicians to access patient data in a centralized view aggregated from multiple care sites. ChartMaxx, the award-winning electronic patient record system, has been implemented in more than 100 hospitals and integrated healthcare delivery networks and has more than 300,000 users. For more information, visit www.MedPlus.com.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics is the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services that patients and doctors need to make better healthcare decisions. The company offers the broadest access to diagnostic testing services through its network of laboratories and patient service centers, and provides interpretive consultation through its extensive medical and scientific staff. Quest Diagnostics is a pioneer in developing innovative new diagnostic tests and advanced healthcare information technology solutions that help improve patient care. Additional company information is available at: www.QuestDiagnostics.com.

(1) KLAS Confidential Information. © 2009 KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved.

Contacts:

Barb Short (Media): 973-520-2800

Kathleen Valentine (Investors): 973-520-2900

SOURCE: Quest Diagnostics

Web site: http://www.questdiagnostics.com/