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CACHE Database Powers PENS Communications Software for Healthcare Marketing

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 09:00 CST

InterSystems Corporation today announced it is working with PENS Communications Systems LLC to provide top-tier marketing communications software for healthcare.

The leading database provider in healthcare, InterSystems develops and markets the CACHE post-relational database and Ensemble universal integration platform. PENS Communications, an InterSystems application partner, provides the Patient Education Newsletter System (PENS), a data-driven application for mass-customized marketing communications.

The PENS system utilizes the healthcare provider's own data, which contains all of the services and relationships that each household has had with the provider. Built on InterSystems' CACHE database, PENS utilizes the data to produce individualized newsletters. Each newsletter contains a selection of articles that are unique to the household and its readers. Also, readers receive what they want - information that is relevant, brief and useful.

A PENS newsletter, for example, would include articles that are selected based on demographics (such as: age, gender, zip, insurance, education level, etc.) or services used. The targeting specifications for each article are set by the healthcare provider's marketing specialists. Additionally, households with special relationships to the provider (such as: donors, volunteers, employees, physicians, local employers, etc.) can be targeted to receive specified articles. "PENS delivers true 'One-to-One' marketing," according to Greg Padovani, President of PENS Communications. "We do processing simulations that let the client adjust their targeting to ensure they are reaching the optimal audience. Finally, PENS allows detailed tracking and reporting of individual articles as well as the newsletter overall. Clients report results magnitudes better than traditional marketing vehicles. It's a whole new way of doing marketing communications."

Reliance on CACHE Object Technology, High Performance

The sophisticated object capabilities of CACHE have been key to making enhancements and modifications easily, rapidly and economically. "CACHE makes it possible to access the database with whatever approach is best for a given scenario--object, relational or direct access," Padovani explained. "We used the CACHE object oriented architecture rather than a legacy relational approach. As a result, the PENS database is almost instantly modifiable. Changes that would require weeks with a relational database are now completed in just a few minutes," he said.

High performance has also proved critical to the innovative PENS application. "We have to compare the targeting for each article against the data for every household. With CACHE, we can process mountains of data in a very short timeframe," Padovani continued. "Based on feedback from our users, the ability to cost-effectively communicate 'One-to-One' with their target audiences is bringing healthcare customer relationship management to a whole new level," he said.

"As the healthcare sector grows steadily more competitive, the ability to leverage technology innovation for new marketing initiatives is increasingly important," said Paul Grabscheid, InterSystems Vice President of Strategic Planning. "We're pleased to work with PENS Communications to deliver a software product designed specifically to help healthcare providers reach their target audiences more effectively than ever before."

About InterSystems

For over 25 years, InterSystems Corporation has been a technology innovation leader in database and integration software. The CACHE post-relational database and Ensemble universal integration platform enable software developers in every industry sector to rapidly create, deploy and integrate high-performance applications. With headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, InterSystems has offices in 20 countries serving more than four million users around the world. For more information, visit www.InterSystems.com.

A free, fully functional, no-time-limit copy of CACHE can be downloaded or requested on CD from the InterSystems Web site.

InterSystems is the world's leading database provider in healthcare, with its products used by most major hospitals and labs, including America's 10 best hospitals as rated by U.S. News and World Report.

About PENS Communications

Based in Arlington Heights, Ill., PENS Communications Systems, LLC develops and markets the Patient Education Newsletter System (PENS). Targeting the growing demand for "One-to-One" marketing, PENS software enables clients to stand out from the competition with individualized marketing materials that support outstanding customer relationship management. For additional information, see www.penscommunications.com.

Source: Business Wire

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