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Surgical Information Systems Enhances Product Functionality; Supports National Quality/Safety Initiatives

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 June 2006, 15:00 CDT

Surgical Information Systems (SIS) announced today the availability of enhanced functionality of their surgical services products for customers who face tough patient safety initiatives. Solution features and benefits will be highlighted in a HIMSS webinar on Thursday, June 8. Register here to attend: http://www.himss.org/asp/ ContentRedirector.asp?ContentId=65788&cetID=200 (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

Tracking where and at what point surgical patients receive preventative antibiotics in relation to 'cut off time,' and tracking when complications occur - from intraop through postop - are just some of the many patient safety data points that SIS helps identify. With its fully integrated clinical and administrative solution, including SIS Analytics, advanced wizard and preference card capabilities, SIS makes it easier than ever to adhere to guidelines.

As American healthcare becomes increasingly consumer driven, and information pertinent to quality of care is made available for public viewing, initiatives such as SCIP (The Surgical Care Improvement Program), NSQIP (National Surgical Quality Improvement Program) and the 100K Lives Campaign, are shaping the healthcare industry at large. These initiatives require timely access to information and robust reporting of general hospital visit occurrences including misuse of materials and mishaps during procedures.

The importance of following patient safety guidelines not only serves patients and their families, but is significant to the financial viability of hospitals. With highly debated programs like Pay-for-Performance (P4P) in which Medicaid pursues the formalization of reimbursements based on clinical outcomes, tracking patient safety measures is no longer viewed as just positive, but mandatory.

As data reporting becomes a standard requirement for hospitals today, accuracy of the data reported becomes crucial. Bassett Healthcare, a regional health system in central New York and a SIS client, experienced the negative impact of inaccurate data reporting at their organization. In their situation, damaging misinformation was published on the Internet. However, the advanced capabilities of SIS empowered the organization to effectively challenge the false data. With the correct data at their fingertips, the hospital replaced potentially damaging statistics, and ultimately saved its reputation.

"As the number one revenue driver and cost center to most hospitals, surgery departments find themselves leading the way toward improving clinical and financial outcomes for their institutions. At SIS, our business isn't simply to provide healthcare software, it is to be the experts at leveraging technology to improve surgical services. This is precisely our niche, and we are partnering with hospitals across North America and beyond to improve lives and the hospital's bottom line," said President and CEO Scott L'Heureux. "As the leader in surgery information systems, we have an obligation to our customers to make adhering to the various standards as user-friendly and clear-cut as possible," said L'Heureux.

Dr. Frank Ehrlich, Chairman of Surgical Services at SIS client Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, believes that surgeons will become increasingly involved in driving initiatives such as P4P and SCIP and explains why comprehensive surgery information systems like SIS will be instrumental. "The real value of SIS is the integration of all clinical, administrative and financial processes that the solution provides, in order to effectively provide the highest degree of quality care at the lowest cost, while meeting government and payer requirements. Only SIS has the experience, expertise, product functionality and focus to do this right."

Surgical Information Systems (www.orsoftware.com) provides automated intelligence across the entire perioperative continuum, thereby empowering hospitals to enhance patient care and business operations. SIS centralizes and unites all information exchanged between the people, processes and resources associated with surgery to deliver fast, accurate and comprehensive information precisely when it is needed most - at the scheduling desk, point-of-care, O.R. control center, surgeon's office, with materials management, and in the executive boardroom. Surgical Information Systems holds strategic partnerships with both Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) Corporations.

Source: Business Wire

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