COLUMBIA, S.C., April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Purchasing full-featured electronic medical record (EMR) software can be expensive for a doctor's office, so Companion Technologies has adopted an alternative subscription option that few vendors are offering.

Subscription Companion EMR gives physicians access to Companion Technologies' full-featured EMR for one year at a low monthly rate of $550 and a one-time minimal implementation charge of $2,500 for up to 10 physicians in a practice. After a year, the practice can purchase the software outright, continue the subscription for another year, or discontinue use.

"Thanks to Subscription Companion EMR, a physician practice can immediately get into a robust EMR system without a huge investment," said Cathy Huddle, Companion Technologies' vice president of electronic medical records products. "The experiences of our existing Companion EMR clients have shown us that nearly every client will want to continue to use the system, so the subscription plan allows us to reach physicians that are interested but wary of the up front cost."

Last year, Companion Technologies signed a Declaration of Support for the American Academy of Family Physicians' (AAFP) Partners for Patients initiative to help physicians acquire affordable, standards-based EHRs (electronic health records), additionally agreeing to uphold the AAFP's principles of affordability, compatibility, interoperability and data stewardship in technology products for family physicians.

"Introducing Subscription Companion EMR illustrates Companion Technologies' serious intent to make EMRs more affordable for our members and other physicians' practices. Companion is among a growing number of Partners for Patients vendors who are offering this model," said David C. Kibbe, M.D., director of the AAFP Center for Health Information Technology. "This is a great opportunity for those practices that currently won't go near an EMR because of the cost and uncertainty of whether it will work for them."

Companion Technologies also was one of the first vendors to sign a letter of intent supporting the federal government's Doctor's Office Quality - Information Technology (DOQ-IT) program, which promotes the adoption of EMRs. As part of that program, Companion Technologies is demonstrating its EMR and serving on panels at state and national DOQ-IT meetings this year, and it will attend the annual TEPR (Toward an Electronic Patient Record) 2005 Conference and Exhibition in May in Salt Lake City.

Physician offices may call 1-800-999-0788 (extension 4) for more information about Subscription Companion EMR.

Based in Columbia, S.C., Companion Technologies ( http://www.companiontechnologies.com/ ) provides physician organizations with financial, clinical, operational and managed care information management services, from practice management systems, electronic medical records and electronic data interchange, to hardware and network services.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Lynn L. Hudson, RRA http://profnet.prnewswire.com/ud_public.jsp?userid=71374

CONTACT: Elizabeth Hammond of Companion Technologies, +1-803-264-4626

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