EDS to Establish National Center of Excellence for Electronic Health Records in Rhode Island
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Facility Will Create About 25 New Jobs in Providence Area
PROVIDENCE, R.I., Jan. 22 -- EDS (NYSE:EDS) today announced it has chosen Rhode Island as the site for its National Center of Excellence for the development and enhancement of systems to support electronic health records across the country.
The Center will be located in EDS' central office in suburban Warwick and initially will create about 25 jobs. EDS expects to host a job fair before the end of February at a location to be announced to identify appropriately skilled professionals.
Electronic health records, or EHRs, will allow hospitals, doctors, pharmacists and other authorized health care providers access to a patient's medical history. EHRs have been shown to increase patient safety, reduce medical redundancies and substantially cut health care costs.
Recent estimates suggest that EHRs could reduce America's annual health care bill by as much as $81 billion.
The Rhode Island Center will focus on developing and streamlining the delivery of EHRs throughout the United States.
EDS already has been selected for two major electronic health record contracts in the United States, both of which are in negotiation. EDS also operates several existing systems in Europe, Canada and Asia Pacific.
"Electronic health records offer an enormous potential for increasing patient safety while reducing health care costs," said Jim Duffey, general manager, EDS U.S. Public Sector.
"We chose Rhode Island for our National Center for several reasons, including Gov. Carcieri's outspoken support for electronic health care, access to high-quality educational institutions, Rhode Island's national reputation for Medicaid innovation and our successful long-term relationship with the state."
"Electronic health records will significantly change the delivery of medical care across the United States in the 21st century," said Gov. Donald L. Carcieri. "The use of information technology will improve patient care and reduce health care costs across the system. That's why I have designated the development of electronic health records as one of my administration's top health care reform priorities. In that light, I'm pleased that EDS has chosen Rhode Island for its national center of excellence in a field that exemplifies the best use of technology today."
"We will be looking for IT professionals with experience in the health industry and health care professionals with experience in transferring health- related data in a clinical setting," said Tom O'Brien, managing director of the Rhode Island facility.
EDS has been Rhode Island's Medicaid fiscal agent partner for more than 15 years.
About EDS
EDS is a leading global technology services company delivering business solutions to its clients. EDS founded the information technology outsourcing industry more than 40 years ago. Today, EDS delivers a broad portfolio of information technology and business process outsourcing services to clients in the manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, communications, energy, transportation, and consumer and retail industries and to governments around the world. Learn more at www.eds.com/
Source: Electronic Data Systems Corporation
CONTACT:
Bill Ritz,
Electronic Data Systems Corporation,
+1-703-742-1307,
bill.ritz@eds.com
Web site: www.eds.com/
