Siemens Moves Clinical Workflow in a New Direction with Soarian®
Soarian's Architecture Marries Mobility, Device Independence and Deployment Flexibility
HIMSS 2007 Annual Conference
Booth #4037
MALVERN, Pa.--A mobile device that can manage patient information inside or outside the hospital can literally be a lifesaver. Today, emerging mobile technologies allow healthcare professionals to form widely distributed, specialized teams to focus on individual patient care. These healthcare professionals need seamless access to information, anywhere at any time.
Mobile access to information eliminates the need for busy clinicians to locate a computer to take advantage of healthcare information technology (IT), like Siemens Soarian®. With Soarian, Siemens addresses these mobility needs by being the only company in the industry offering a complete health information system (HIS) across clinical and financial applications that can run on any thin-client device that supports its web browser requirements, such as wireless laptops, notebooks, tablet PCs or PDAs. Siemens will showcase Soarian and its mobile support capabilities and business process management for healthcare at the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) 2007 annual conference, booth #4037, in New Orleans from Feb. 25 through March 1.
With Soarian, Siemens is poised to leverage the exploding growth in the mobile healthcare IT market. Recent projections of the market from Kalorama Information forecast a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 percent, and a market value surging from $1.8 billion in 2005 to over $7 billion in 2010. The major cause of this growth is the increased reliance on immediate access to data for streamlining healthcare decision-making, and the limitations of paper-based processes and traditional record-keeping which are increasing the demand for mobile, electronic health data. Satisfying that demand requires a true thin client solution, like Soarian.
Soarian supports a pure thin client making the implementation environment completely device independent. Any user can access, display and update information in Soarian - Clinical and Financial Suites - from any device that supports its web browser requirements, anywhere, at any time.
Alegent Health Lakeside Hospital - Mobility in Motion
Alegent Health Lakeside Hospital in Omaha, Neb., one of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the nation, uses a variety of Siemens modality and IT solutions. Alegent's initial venture into the wireless arena was made in conjunction with the rollout of Soarian Clinical Access, a solution that enables users to view clinical information and have secure access to images from any device with a standard Internet browser. Alegent nurses were provided workstations on wheels (WOWs) with wireless capability, but continued to prefer the fixed computers at the nurses' station.
Alegent recently implemented Siemens Med Administration Check(TM) which closes the loop on the medication use process by seamlessly validating and documenting medication administration using bar code technology to help confirm the rights of administration. To access Med Administration Check, nurses were required to use the WOWs at patients' bedsides. But the nursing staff found that the WOWs were heavy and that WOW battery life was short, making it necessary to move the heavy cart more than 75 times during each shift. WOWs are expensive and one cart is required for each nurse on the floor. Furthermore, storage became a major problem.
Today, to replace the heavy, unwieldy WOWs, Alegent is running Siemens IT solutions as part of a usability study on Motion Computing's C5 mobile clinical assistant (MCA), a new mobile computing category created by Intel with support from Motion. With a design based on input from thousands of clinicians worldwide, the C5 brings reliable, automated patient data management directly to the point of care. Intel and Motion conducted extensive user-level, ethnographic, human-factors, time/motion study, and clinical-workflow research, resulting in clear requirements for a purpose-built mobile device.
Mobile, secure access to healthcare IT solutions, patient records, and images allows Alegent's medical staff to maximize their time with patients, and focus more closely on care improvements. In this environment, healthcare providers and patients alike can benefit from efficient bedside case management.
"Siemens Soarian is the right prescription for healthcare," said Michael Westcott, M.D., chief medical information officer, Alegent Health. "Soarian contributes to our efforts to control escalating healthcare costs by helping us reduce duplicate, inefficient processes. Used in a mobile environment at our hospital, physicians can access patient information and collaborate with peers at the patient's bedside. Nurses can record all relevant patient data at the point of care, eliminating paperwork and the potential errors. You don't get much better than that."
Used in a mobile computing environment, Soarian provides Alegent's staff all the features and functionality they have at the nursing station from the convenience of a tablet device. Caregivers get secure access to accurate patient data, including clinical histories, treatments, medications, tests, lab results, and insurance information - helping to expedite care decisions, increase the efficiency of clinical processes and support an overstretched staff with powerful new cost effective mobile tools. Alegent's administrators can leverage an integrated infrastructure that helps to improve the quality of care, increase staff satisfaction and set the stage for pay-for-performance initiatives. Ultimately, Soarian supports clinicians in enabling patients to receive better, faster care - helping to improve their overall healthcare experience.
About Siemens Medical Solutions
Siemens Medical Solutions of Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. 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. Recent acquisitions in the area of in-vitro diagnostics - such as Diagnostic Products Corporation and Bayer Diagnostics - mark a significant milestone for Siemens as it becomes the first full service diagnostics company. Employing more than 41,000 people worldwide and operating in over 130 countries, Siemens Medical Solutions reported sales of 8.23 billion EUR, orders of 9.33 billion EUR and group profit of 1.06 billion EUR for fiscal 2006 (Sept. 30). Further information can be found by visiting www.siemens.com/medical.
The Motion C5 has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.
Contacts
Kristen Saponaro
Siemens Medical Solutions
610-448-4729
kristen.saponaro@siemens.com
