| Orion Systems Leverages Global Success to Deliver for North American RHIOs |
North American EHR and RHIO projects to Deliver Vital Healthcare Information to 23,000 Clinicians, Improving Safety and Quality of Care for over 3.3 Million PeopleSAN DIEGO-Feb. 13, 2006 - Orion Systems International, provider of applications and tools that integrate and enhance existing healthcare information systems, delivers North American healthcare organizations with global experience deploying successful Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) infrastructure.Exhibiting at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2006 Annual Conference and Exhibition, Orion will demonstrate its leadership in helping organizations meet the National Health Information Network (NHIN) integration goals declared by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Orion has three significant RHIO projects underway in the United States and Canada, deploying a phased implementation strategy to ensure each project's success. Worldwide, Orion is implementing four health information communications projects and is currently implementing the largest health information network in Australia, New South Wales that will serve 6.5 million when complete. "There are regional variations emerging with RHIOs in North America, just as there are globally," says Paul Viskovich, president of North American operations, Orion. "The need for efficient healthcare information communication, however, is universal, and Orion has the technology as well as the people to deliver best practice solutions." Having previously implemented successful clinical communications systems in New South Wales, Australia and the United Kingdom, Orion is currently implementing RHIO systems in conjunction with its business and technology partners in Alberta, Canada, and in parts of Vermont and New Hampshire in the United States. Capital Health Extends to Alberta Provincial Portal The Alberta Provincial Portal project was recently extended after a successful region-wide implementation with Capital Health in Edmonton Alberta. The Capital Health project, which has been underway since 2004, serves over 1.6 million people across central and northern Alberta. "With the help of Orion technology, we are able to offer our 2,000 physicians and over 6,500 other authorized health care staff access to an unparalleled range of patient lab results, medication information, clinical notes and demographic information," says Donna Strating, CIO of Capital Health. Now underway, the fully implemented Alberta Provincial Portal will have an estimated 22,000 clinical users and serve a province of 3.2 million people. Connecting Rural Vermont and New Hampshire The Vermont-New Hampshire project has joined three rural healthcare providers, including Mt. Ascutney Hospital & Health Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Valley Radiologists P.A., to provide a crucial example of how a Health Information Exchange will improve patient safety and care in more remote healthcare settings. In 2003, the three institutions created the Mt. Ascutney Healthcare Consortium, to design, install and operate an Orion Concerto Clinical Portal integration engine and overall system between and among themselves. "Because of our rural nature, small size and limited budget, with a limited number of healthcare providers and patients spread out over a wide geographic area, we need to do all that we can to provide quality services and lower cost," said Mt. Ascutney Consortium Director Thomas Sims. "This allows us to share data and provide access to care between locations, miles apart, without having to replace what we have now." Global Experience Enables Successful Implementations "We have gained extensive experience overseas with groundbreaking deployments in Australia as well the UK which has enabled us to implement solutions efficiently and painlessly for our North American customers," says Ian McCrae, CEO of Orion. Orion is implementing a successful pilot with the statewide electronic health record (EHR) system in New South Wales, which covers 11 hospitals and an estimated 9,000 clinical users. Once the pilot period is complete, the system will go live to service an area covering 497,000 sq miles and a population of 6.5 million people. In the UK, Orion implemented an award-winning community-wide EHR with the Walsall Health Partnership, part of the UK National Health Service (NHS) investigations into developing electronic records systems throughout the United Kingdom. The NHS report, conducted by a third party consulting firm, stated that the Walsall project was "successfully delivered, on time and on budget, through a partnership with a committed EHR system supplier and senior-level involvement with GP system suppliers." As the U.S. moves towards an integrated healthcare information system, Orion is poised to utilize global best practice with North American experience, gained from its over 500 current customers. "EHR systems vary somewhat globally, but they have the same goals and challenges," says McCrae. "The expertise we as a company have gained through our global implementations firmly establishes our position as leading technology provider to regional health information organizations (RHIO) in North America today," says McCrae. About Orion Systems International Orion Systems International's easy-to-use suite of applications and tools integrate and enhance existing healthcare information systems and deliver secure, universal access to information. The innovative company delivers an end-to-end information technology (IT) integration platform that brings together clinical content to improve clinician effectiveness and the quality of patient care. Orion's partners include leading health and IT vendors such as Oracle Corporation, Philips Medical Systems, LogicaCMG, Hewlett Packard, McKesson, and Sierra Systems. Orion also has more than 1,000 clients worldwide including Johns Hopkins Hospital, New York State Department of Health, Central Washington Hospital, CDC and many more. More information can be found at www.orionhealth.com. Contacts TNT Communication, Inc. Tamarie Johnson, 503-345-9257 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
