Ann Arbor-based Cielo MedSolutions announced it had received a $115,000 Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Cielo will use the grant to team with the University of Michigan Health System Department of Family Medicine to design a next-generation ambulatory clinical quality improvement system based on the company's flagship software suite, Cielo Clinic.

Cielo Clinic is a clinical quality management system that proactively manages the care needs of medical practice and health system patients through a patient registry, a clinical decision support engine and population management functionality.

“This grant award from the National Cancer Institute is a tremendous catalyst for us,” said Cielo president and CEO Dave Morin.  “It enables us to roll up our sleeves and study how Cielo Clinic is being used in our existing customer sites, and to formulate a vision for next-generation ambulatory care technology. As we continue to support patient-centered medical home initiatives, pay-for-performance programs such as PQRI and other quality improvement initiatives, the ability to incorporate customer requirements into the product design is extremely valuable.” 

Donald E. Nease, Jr., MD, associate professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan Health System and Cielo’s chief medical officer, said the grant “is particularly exciting because it bolsters our ongoing exploration of the best way to support ambulatory care quality improvement initiatives in a manner that fits into a practice workflow.”

The grant funds the study of existing Cielo Clinic customer implementations, the documentation of future customer expectations for such a system, and the design of a next-generation system designed for all care delivery participants that tracks and manages activities and outcomes at all stages including screening, prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Cielo Clinic’s registry, clinical decision support, and population management functionality lets providers and practices proactively manage the care needs of their patients. Supporting elements of the patient-centered medical home, pay-for-performance, and clinical scorecarding, Cielo Clinic is the tool of choice for primary care providers. Cielo Clinic accommodates either paper or electronic-based medical practices and integrates with EMR systems. The web-based product requires a minimal implementation effort and is priced on a low annual subscription fee, which makes it affordable and practical for practices of any size.

Cielo, from the Spanish word for "sky" or "heaven," is pioneering a new category of healthcare IT known as clinical quality management systems. The company's Web-based Cielo Clinic software-as-a-service offering helps ambulatory care providers proactively improve, document and report on clinical care and supports initiatives such as patient-centered medical homes, pay-for-performance programs, clinical integration, quality improvement and clinical scorecarding. 

More at www.cielomedsolutions.com.