MALVERN, Pa., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Siemens Medical Solutions (http://www.usa.siemens.com/healthcareit) continues to help hospitals and healthcare systems innovate their clinical and financial workflows through Soarian(R), its next-generation, workflow-engineered healthcare information system. At the 93rd Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) from Nov. 25 to 30 at McCormick Place in Chicago (Booth #7713, Hall B), Siemens will showcase the many benefits Soarian can bring to healthcare facilities across the globe. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO ) Soarian combines clinical, financial and operational processes to support patient-centered care. By streamlining access to images and data from a variety of medical modalities in one location, Soarian helps facilitate more informed decision-making -- leading to improved care delivery, increased staff satisfaction, and more efficient business practices. In addition to helping streamline critical information across clinical, financial and administrative functions, Soarian is assisting many healthcare organizations in improving workflow and patient safety. Last year, CentraState Healthcare System, a not-for-profit, 272-bed medical facility located in Freehold, N.J., embarked on a project to develop metrics and document and validate workflow outcomes in specific areas that would result from the use of Soarian. The project included a focus on reducing nosocomial pressure ulcer rates. Implementation of the Pressure Ulcer Prevention Workflow, driven by Soarian, enabled the CentraState nursing team to automate several key process steps and helped reduce the prevalence of nosocomial pressure ulcers in one year from a pre-workflow rate of 4.93 percent to a post-workflow rate of 1.80 percent. "Soarian has provided us with the support we needed to drive process improvements across our organization," explained Indranil Ganguly, vice president and chief information officer for CentraState Healthcare system. "Siemens has served as an invaluable partner in helping us to achieve our patient safety goals. In addition to providing the technology solution needed to drive our workflows, our partners at Siemens have helped us from the beginning of our project to develop metrics to validate the outcomes generated from our new workflows." In addition to its nosocomial pressure ulcer prevention workflow, CentraState has eight other workflows live at its facility, including IV restart, fall risk assessment and fall prevention, and heparin protocol. CentraState anticipates these workflows will help create greater efficiencies for its staff members and an increase in quality of care delivered to all patients, and plans to implement many more patient safety-focused workflows in the future. "It is evident today that information technology is transforming the healthcare industry and helping healthcare providers meet industry-driven quality-of-care benchmarks and standards," explained Janet Dillione, president, Health Services, Siemens Medical Solutions Healthcare IT Division. "With Soarian and its powerful workflow engine, healthcare organizations are now able to optimize outcomes and increase efficiency by establishing consistent enterprise-wide processes that drive clinical and financial success." Today, Soarian-driven workflows are being deployed globally to support key quality and regulatory initiatives such as those defined by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Joint Commission (JC) Core Measures, key objectives of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) Five Million Lives Campaign, and providers' own internal quality measures. Currently, more than 100 Soarian-enabled workflows are live across the Siemens global customer base, demonstrating the ability to seamlessly connect clinical, operational, and financial processes in support of patient-centered care. About Siemens Medical Solutions Siemens Medical Solutions is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions provider with core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including information technology and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Medical Solutions will be the first fully integrated diagnostics company, bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare information technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support services. The company delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care -- from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care. Siemens Medical Solutions employs more than 48,000 people worldwide and operates in 130 countries. According to U.S. GAAP, in the fiscal year 2007 (Sept. 30), Siemens Medical Solutions reported sales of euro 9.85 billion, orders of euro 10.27 billion, and group profit of euro 1.32 billion (preliminary figures, unaudited). Further information can be found by visiting http://www.usa.siemens.com/medical. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Siemens Medical Solutions CONTACT: Michele Bowman, Siemens Medical Solutions, +1-610-448-3236, Web site: http://www.usa.siemens.com/medical http://www.usa.siemens.com/healthcareit

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