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First Consulting Group (FCG) Executes FirstGateways LOI With the Health Information Xchange of New York (HIXNY)

Posted on: Thursday, 7 September 2006, 12:00 CDT

FirstGateways(TM) portal expected to provide clinical operability and medication sharing for greater Albany, New York area

First Consulting Group (FCG), (NASDAQ:FCGI), announced today it has signed a Letter of Intent with the Health Information Xchange of New York (HIXNY) to deploy FCG's proven FirstGateways(TM) platform as the foundation for building out the Albany market as one of New York State's announced Health Information Technology (HIT) regional health care networks.

The anticipated $1.5 million investment in technology and services by HIXNY is expected to provide the foundation for building electronic health records among providers and patients, and is expected to reduce medical errors, prevent unnecessary testing, facilitate data sharing and ensure appropriate medical care is delivered to patients.

"We selected FirstGateways because FCG's product architecture for building a regional and community-based health information exchange is the best match for our region's needs," said Chris Baldwin, chairperson, board of directors, HIXNY. "We liked the fact that FirstGateways is built on emerging national standards, and offers clinical interoperability and comprehensive ePrescribing capabilities which will allow our clinicians and patients to make better informed decisions about care."

HIXNY is part of New York's HIT initiative, which provides grants to expand the use of technology in the state's health care system. It is the first regional grant that has been announced to date. Funding for the grants was dedicated under the Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers (HEAL NY), which was formed to help advance information technology and the health care system. HIXNY and FCG are currently in the process of finalizing planning and budgeting for the purchase and implementation of FirstGateways, and a final contract is expected to be executed upon final approval and funding of the grant by HEAL NY.

"We are delighted to have an opportunity to work with HIXNY in developing the New York State HIT effort," said Joe Casper, SVP of Software Products and FirstGateways product manager. "The HIXNY project will build upon FCG's 3+ years of experience and success in developing community interoperability and health information exchange solutions."

As announced earlier this year, FCG is working with Northrop Grumman Corporation in one of four consortia chosen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a prototype for a nationwide health information network (NHIN) architecture. These consortia are expected to set the standard for health care information exchange in the United States and FCG is providing the FirstGateways clinical system along with its experience in Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) development to the consortia. FCG also announced earlier this year that it is working with University Hospitals Health System (UHHS) on the implementation of a new FirstGateways physician/patient record system to serve the Cleveland market and beyond.

About FirstGateways(TM)

The FirstGateways clinical information system is built upon a powerful and flexible enterprise architecture to support initiatives that improve patient care and enable health caregivers to make better decisions by providing them with web-enabled, real-time access to patient data. The product is currently being deployed to serve a wide variety of enterprise, community, and regional data sharing and integration initiatives.

FirstGateways offers a robust data integration engine with sophisticated security and privacy functionality that enables the collection, aggregation, distribution and analysis of patient data - collected from various source systems - and displayed via a consolidated portal view. FirstGateways serves as the foundation for immediate and strategic information needs. The result is a Virtual Electronic Medical Record that integrates patient-specific data from across a healthcare provider's inpatient and outpatient environment.

About FCG

First Consulting Group (FCG) is a leading provider of outsourcing, consulting, systems implementation and integration for healthcare, pharmaceutical, and other life sciences organizations throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Through combinations of onsite, off-site and offshore resources, FCG provides low cost, high quality services to improve its clients' performance. The firm's consulting and integration services increase clients' operations effectiveness with information technology, resulting in reduced costs, improved customer service, enhanced quality of patient care, and more rapid introduction of new pharmaceutical compounds. For more information about FCG, visit www.fcg.com or call 800-345-0957.

About HIXNY

The Health Information Xchange of New York (HIXNY) was co-founded in 1999 by the New York State Health Plan Association (HPA) and Iroquois Healthcare Alliance (IHA) as a not-for-profit company seeking collaborative solutions to health care problems through information technology. In 2005, HIXNY restructured its board of directors and governance to commence the implementation of a successful clinical data exchange. HIXNY's board of directors includes chairman, Chris Baldwin, Northeast Health; vice chairman, Sumeet Murarka, Community Care Physicians; treasurer, Gary Fitzgerald, Iroquois Healthcare Alliance; and secretary, Roberto Martinez, MD, CDPHP. HIXNY is comprised of 20 stakeholders encompassing Capital Region hospital systems, provider groups, and health plans committed to the use of health information technology and the exchange of clinical data. For more information about HIXNY, please visit its Web site at www.HIXNY.org.

Source: Business Wire

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