Siemens and Drager Medical Announce First Product of Co-Development Efforts

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Siemens Medical Solutions and Drager Medical today announced INVISION(R) ChartAssist(R), the first critical care offering resulting from their co-development and commitment to bringing enterprisewide information technology (IT) efficiencies to the departmental level, at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2004 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Fla.

INVISION ChartAssist combines the proven critical care charting capabilities of Drager Medical's ChartAssist with Siemens industry-leading INVISION health information system, extending the power of INVISION into the critical care environment to produce a more versatile and comprehensive tool for the enterprise.

Designed to integrate clinical results, reports and critical care information, INVISION ChartAssist automatically collects data from bedside devices, such as patient monitors and ventilators, creating an electronic patient flowsheet and integrating it into the INVISION electronic health record.

"Clearly, the next step for information technology in healthcare is to bring enterprisewide efficiencies to the acute point of care - to intensive care units, operating rooms and other critical care areas," said Tom Miller, president, Siemens Medical Solutions, IT division. "Through this partnership, we have combined our respective strengths in information, diagnostic and therapeutic technologies.

"From the Siemens perspective," Miller continued, "we're very excited to grow our INVISION and Soarian(R) families in the acute care space. INVISION ChartAssist marks a key deliverable coming from a very substantial R&D initiative."

"Today's critical care environment is complex, with providers increasingly challenged to deliver efficient and safe care," noted Mike Argentieri, president, Information Technology, Drager Medical. "In Drager Medical, Drager and Siemens have created a groundbreaking joint venture for developing and delivering revolutionary medical innovations, bringing together the core competencies of two of the world's premier medical companies. Our ability to deliver integrated, point-of-care solutions is unmatched in the industry - and we have already started improving bedside workflow today."

At the Nebraska Heart Institute Heart Hospital (NHH) in Lincoln, clinicians are using ChartAssist and other Siemens technologies to help deliver high-quality healthcare and increase patient satisfaction, supporting their organization's plan to assure superior outcomes while becoming a leading all-digital hospital. Among the results that NHH is recognizing with these new solutions are:

-- Improving efficiency in patient care and timely therapeutic intervention through anytime, anywhere access to comprehensive patient information; -- Eliminating paper-based charting through the use of online documentation; and -- Supporting team-based care delivery by integrating the right information at the same time from any location in the fast-paced critical care setting.

"In the old days, nurses would visit four to five patients in a row, and then need to complete charts for them later based on memory," said Janet Huenink, RN, MSN, CRNP, Nursing Services Team Leader, NHH. "With ChartAssist, vital sign charting is done automatically at the bedside, requiring much less time for nurses. Because nurses no longer need to search for and gather information from multiple sources, they can spend more time with patients and their families."

Using the powerful interdisciplinary clinical tools of INVISION and ChartAssist, the NHH nursing team is able to gain efficiencies not found in the paper-based workflow environment, while supporting the organization's continuous care approach.

INVISION ChartAssist is now generally available and can be seen in the Siemens booth (#5036), as well as the Drager Medical booth (#5029), at the HIMSS conference.

About Drager Medical

Drager Medical is one of the world's leading manufacturers of medical equipment. As the largest division of Dragerwerk AG, Drager Medical, a Drager and Siemens Company, offers products, services and integrated systems throughout the patient care process in all CareAreas(TM): Emergency Care, OR/Anesthesia, Critical Care, Perinatal Care, and Home Care. With headquarters in Lubeck, Germany, Drager Medical has a worldwide workforce of approximately 5,700. R&D and production are located in Lubeck, Germany; Best, Netherlands; Telford, PA, and Danvers, MA, in the United States; and Shanghai, China. The company has sales and service subsidiaries in over 40 countries and is represented in more than 190 countries. In fiscal 2002, the company increased net sales by about 5 percent to reach 848.3 million euros (2001: 805.4) and nearly doubled EBIT to 75.3 million euros (2001: 39.0). Additional information about Drager Medical is available at http://www.draeger-medical.com/.

About Siemens

Siemens Medical Solutions of Siemens AG with headquarters in Malvern, Pa., and Erlangen, Germany, is one of the largest suppliers to the healthcare industry in the world. The company is known for bringing together innovative medical technologies, healthcare information systems, management consulting and support services, to help customers achieve tangible, sustainable, clinical and financial outcomes. Employing approximately 31,000 people worldwide and operating in more than 120 countries, Siemens Medical Solutions reported sales of 7.4 billion EUR, orders of 7.8 billion EUR and group profit of 1.1 billion EUR for fiscal 2003. More information can be obtained by visiting http://www.usa.siemens.com/medical.

Siemens Medical Solutions

CONTACT: Molly Grasso, Siemens Medical Solutions, +1-610-219-6712,
Molly.Grasso@siemens.com; or Swarna Desai, Drager Medical, +1-215-721-5400,
ext. 2530, desais@draegermed.com

Web site: http://www.draeger-medical.com/

Web site: http://www.usa.siemens.com/medical