Siemens Showcases Proven Outcomes in Healthcare at HIMSS

MALVERN, Pa., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Siemens demonstrates proven outcomes through workflow optimization at the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference and exhibition, February 9-13 at the San Diego Convention Center. Visitors to booth #3313 will witness the outcomes and results that Siemens Medical Solutions and Siemens Information and Communication Networks have delivered.

"Healthcare providers continue to struggle with the challenge of providing better patient care while controlling costs," said Erich R. Reinhardt, president and chief executive officer of Siemens Medical Solutions. "By acting as a partner, Siemens helps its customers improve workflow throughout their enterprises via our innovative solutions, including clinical equipment, information technology and process re-engineering expertise. It is this workflow optimization that leads to the positive results of improved quality of care and reduced costs that our customers are currently experiencing."

Siemens' innovative technologies being demonstrated at HIMSS incorporate an understanding of workflow optimization that leads to proven outcomes. Examples include:

-- South Carolina Heart Center improved efficiencies in the cardiac catheterization lab by reducing report turnaround time from days to hours using the Soarian(TM) Cardiology health information solution. Documentation among physicians is now more complete and consistent, as 24 different report styles have been consolidated into one. -- The Chester County Hospital, a Soarian clinical beta site, used the solution's implementation starter set tools to upload their clinical data repository in just six weeks. Prior to Soarian, an installation of this magnitude would have taken more than nine months to complete. -- At Susquehanna Health System, a Soarian financial beta site, several hundred physicians were trained in just one day on a biometric mouse for secure user authentication, one of the many sophisticated components of the Soarian platform. -- Siemens is working with state health officials in Pennsylvania to design and roll out a cost-effective computer network to link up to 225 hospital emergency departments. This health surveillance network will link emergency rooms across the Commonwealth and is the first of this scale to be in operation under federal homeland security legislation requiring each state to institute a program to proactively detect potential bioterrorism threats, disease outbreaks, and epidemics. -- At Bethesda Healthcare System, the SIENET(TM) Integrated Radiology Suite, encompassing the seamless integration of Siemens' radiology information system and picture archiving and communications system, is helping physicians obtain reports 12 hours faster. Report turnaround time has decreased from 16.5 hours to four hours or less for 85 percent of inpatients. -- Milton S. Hershey Medical Center's physician accounts receivable management is handled out of Siemens' National Business Office in Malvern, Pa. In the first six months of the engagement, accounts receivable days were lowered by 12 percent and cash collected increased 10 percent over the same period in the prior year. In the first nine months of 2002, cash collected as a percent of gross revenue was 28, exceeding the benchmark of 21. -- Nurses at Danville Regional Medical Center are using bar code technology via Siemens Med Administration Check to streamline the medication use process and reduce medication errors. Integrating all necessary functions for administering medications has resulted in preventing an average of 102 potential errors per month and eliminated an average of 50 phone calls per day to the pharmacy. -- Using computerized physician order entry to speed radiology order time by three hours - The Ohio State University Health System also showed reductions of 25 percent for laboratory orders, 43 percent for radiology orders and 64 percent for pharmacy orders. -- Health First uses Siemens multi-media call center technology to provide easier access for patients and colleagues to reach the appropriate health resources. By deploying Siemens' skills-based routing engine and remote agent solutions, users can dial one number with assurance that the right person will be available - whether they have a medical question, a scheduling need, or billing issue. -- Using Siemens Decision Support Solution, PinnacleHealth System combined data from their financial, clinical, and other operational data sources into one comprehensive source. This helped reduce the manual effort needed to collect and compile this information by more than 40 hours per month and has led to more complete, accurate, and actionable management information.

Other products and services being showcased at the Siemens HIMSS booth include:

-- Leonardo, the syngo(TM) speaking post-processing workplace that allows clinicians to access an image-based electronic patient record on one workstation. -- INFINITY EXPLORER(TM), the first critical care workstation of its kind in the marketplace, which provides access to key patient information on a single display located at the point of care. -- Siemens Health Services Framework infrastructure solution, the user identification solution that enables interoperability between applications, and supports enterprise-wide common master file maintenance and data synchronization initiatives.

"Our ultimate goal is to help our customers do more and do it better. We've listened to our customers and understand what they're facing today: escalating costs, a shortage of clinical staff, regulatory requirements, shrinking reimbursements. Nobody but Siemens can offer the total solution of cutting-edge information technology combined with the industry's leading medical technology and a complete range of services that address these challenges and lead to our customers experiencing true proven outcomes," said Frank Lavelle, president and CEO, Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services Corporation.

About Siemens

Siemens Medical Solutions of Siemens AG with headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania 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. More information can be obtained by visiting www.siemensmedical.com.

Siemens Information and Communication Networks Inc. is a leading provider of integrated voice and data networks and solutions for enterprises, carriers and service providers. With U.S. headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., the company has two primary divisions, Enterprise Networks and Carrier Networks, delivering innovative answers to customers seeking to reduce operating costs and grow revenues and Efficient Networks, a Siemens-owned affiliate company, providing broadband Internet access products. For more information: http://www.icn.siemens.com/.

Siemens AG , headquartered in Munich, is a leading global electronics and engineering company. It employs 426,000 people in 192 countries and reported worldwide sales of more than $84 billion in fiscal 2002 (10/1/01 - 9/30/02). The United States is Siemens' largest market in the world, with sales of more than $21 billion in fiscal 2002 and more than 74,000 employees in all 50 states. More information can be obtained by visiting www.usa.siemens.com.

Siemens Medical Solutions

CONTACT: Christine Foy of Siemens Medical Solutions, +1-610-219-3163,
christine.foy@siemens.com; or Suzanne Crow of Siemens Information and
Communication Networks, +1-703-262-2689, suzanne.crow@icn.siemens.com

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

Web site: http://www.icn.siemens.com/

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