Siemens INVISION Promotes Patient Safety and Enterprisewide Electronic Health Record

MALVERN, Pa., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As healthcare providers continue to build their information technology (IT) strategies around solutions that support patient safety and create an integrated electronic health record (EHR), Siemens Medical Solutions announces new enhancements to its award-winning INVISION(R) healthcare information system (HIS). The most widely installed HIS in the US, INVISION's browser-based clinical functionality is aligned with national EHR efforts, and is designed to increase ease of use and efficiency, promote standardization, and support mobility. The enhancements to the latest release of INVISION include:

-- Physician Order Entry (POE) Starter Set - designed to help speed implementation and promote acceptance of computerized physician order entry. Also saves physicians time through presentation of specialty- based order sets, synonym searching, and content and tools to streamline implementation and maintenance. -- Clinical Notification Inbox - provides alerts of new results, orders, etc., to reduce errors and omissions and improve the timeliness of clinical decision making. -- PDAccess Clinical Assistant Vital Signs - enables point-of-care data capture, increasing timeliness and efficiency.

"INVISION is a proven, comprehensive solution that continues to help our customers achieve tangible patient safety outcomes, while forming the basis for an enterprisewide electronic health record," said Tom Miller, president, Siemens Medical Solutions, IT division. "In his recent State of the Union address, President Bush called for a more aggressive use of medical technology to reduce the number of medical mistakes, which in turn drive up healthcare costs.

"The majority of medical errors do not result from carelessness or individual human error," continued Miller, "but rather from flaws in the delivery system. The implementation of systems like INVISION and Soarian(R), our new generation solution; the use of barcode technology for medication management; and the adoption of electronic health records are addressing these flaws today."

Siemens INVISION CPOE and clinical documentation solutions were critical components of 2003 Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence winner Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's (CCHMC) Integrating Clinical Information System, which is delivering outcomes that include reduced medical errors and medication turnaround time, as well as increased satisfaction for clinicians and patients.

According to Dr. Brian Jacobs, associate professor of pediatrics and director of the CPOE rollout at CCHMC, "Our vision is to be the leader in improving child health, and Siemens is helping us do that. Combining information technology with process re-engineering allowed us to meet our strategic objectives of optimizing patient safety and consistency of care; improving clinician and patient-care efficiency and productivity; maximizing regulatory compliance; and enhancing provider, patient and family satisfaction."

"To drive toward major enhancements in patient safety, hospitals need to undergo significant process and culture change," added Miller. "Technology can help facilitate and sustain that change. As such, we are investing in and enhancing INVISION to enable customers to drive forward with their process changes through incremental investments, which will make adoption of newer- generation systems more efficient and effective. This strategy maximizes customer outcomes and return on investment."

Building on its proven functionality, INVISION's newest enhancements are benefiting clinicians at healthcare institutions across the country. For example, at Lifespan, Rhode Island's first integrated health system, clinicians utilize personal digital assistants (PDAs) via a wireless network to review and capture pertinent patient data at the point of care.

"Using PDAccess Vital Signs in conjunction with INVISION has facilitated point of care documentation, making the collection of patient information easier and more efficient, and allowing us to have vital patient information available at all times," said Nancy Towers, RN, MSN, BC, director of Nursing Clinical Systems, Newport Hospital, Lifespan. "For clinicians on the move, using wireless devices saves us time, provides for greater accuracy in documenting patient information, and enables us to review and collaborate with other members of the patient care team-while we move about the hospital."

Siemens is demonstrating INVISION CPOE and the product line's latest enhancements at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference being held in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 22-26.

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 of Siemens Medical Solutions, +1-610-219-6712,
Molly.Grasso@siemens.com

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