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Lawson Software Announces Lawson Performance Management for Healthcare

Posted on: Wednesday, 4 October 2006, 09:01 CDT

As it continues to expand its industry-leading healthcare business applications and Human Capital Management (HCM) suite, Lawson Software (Nasdaq:LWSN) today announced Lawson Performance Management for Healthcare. The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product provides healthcare customers with a faster and simpler method for meeting the compliance requirements associated with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

By allowing healthcare providers to replace multiple, time-consuming and often paper-based processes to support reporting requirements associated with JCAHO, Lawson Performance Management for Healthcare greatly eases compliance with JCAHO standards and simplifies the JCAHO audit process. Made possible through Lawson's July 2006 acquisition of Competency Assessment Solutions (CAS), the Web-based application covers the entire performance management and reporting process, from job descriptions and performance appraisals to competency assessments, department orientation, and mandatory policy reviews.

Lawson Performance Management for Healthcare also helps organizations improve productivity and lower HR administrative costs. It automates performance management processes so HR staff can focus on enhancing staff performance and recruiting and retention efforts. The application is simple to use, with online access to real-time data for everyone in the organization who needs this employee information. For instance, HR staff and managers can easily generate real-time reports on compliance, outstanding evaluations, and more, pinpointing the issues that require their immediate attention.

"With 5,000 employees we needed to automate our performance management processes to improve productivity and enhance our ability to comply with Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards," said Julie Ascher Carlson, director of Compensation and Compliance at Cape Cod Healthcare, a Lawson Performance Management for Healthcare customer. "With Lawson Performance Management for Healthcare, we can quickly report and track competency information and performance appraisals, which will allow us to produce documentation and reports for JCAHO auditors anytime. An even bigger benefit of the application has been the boost we've seen in staff performance. Managers can better measure and evaluate staff performance, and have more time to develop staff and strengthen competencies."

Recent changes in the JCAHO audit process have made compliance reporting a tremendous challenge for healthcare organizations. As a result of new unannounced JCAHO "spot audits," it is even more critical that information regarding appraisals be accessible quickly and reliably. Manual systems can make responding to these audits time-consuming or even result in an audit failure, if adequate documentation cannot be found. With Lawson Performance Management for Healthcare, Lawson is providing a solution to help ease the significant operational and compliance challenges facing healthcare organizations.

Additionally, the system includes a comprehensive and specific competency library available for healthcare providers, containing a listing of more than 5,000 skills that hospitals can reference in meeting and maintaining JCAHO standards. Without such a reference tool to validate performance against role-specific requirements, hospitals have had to draft individualized competencies from scratch for every position in the organization. With Lawson Performance Management for Healthcare, users can simply point-and-click to choose from a vast selection of hospital-specific skills.

"Lawson Performance Management for Healthcare closely aligns with healthcare business processes, providing industry-specific capabilities and content to help healthcare organizations meet JCAHO HR standards with improved efficiency and accuracy," said Darica Ward, director, Global Human Capital Management Products, Lawson Software. "The new software functionality combined with Lawson's leading healthcare and HCM solutions make Lawson the clear choice for the healthcare market."

More than 1,000 companies use Lawson Human Capital Management applications to automate administrative HR processes and help HR staff focus on more strategic, value-added employee initiatives. Lawson Human Capital Management applications provide organizations with the information they need to maximize workforce potential, while helping HR leaders contribute to organizational excellence with applications that directly support business operations.

About Lawson Software

Lawson Software provides software and service solutions to 4,000 customers in manufacturing, distribution, maintenance and service sector industries across 40 countries. Lawson's solutions include Enterprise Performance Management, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, Manufacturing Resource Planning, Enterprise Asset Management and industry-tailored applications. Lawson solutions assist customers in simplifying their businesses or organizations by helping them streamline processes, reduce costs and enhance business or operational performance. Lawson is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., and has offices around the world. Visit Lawson online at www.lawson.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that contain risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements contain statements of intent, belief or current expectations of Lawson Software and its management. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The company is not obligated to update forward-looking statements based on circumstances or events that occur in the future. Risks and uncertainties that may cause such differences include but are not limited to: uncertainties in Lawson's ability to realize synergies and revenue opportunities anticipated from the Intentia International acquisition; uncertainties in the software industry; uncertainties as to when and whether the conditions for the recognition of deferred revenue will be satisfied; global military conflicts; terrorist attacks; pandemics, and any future events in response to these developments; changes in conditions in the company's targeted industries; increased competition and other risk factors listed in the company's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lawson assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release.

Source: Business Wire

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