Orion Health Wins 'TUANZ Innovation' Award for Its National Immunisation Register

Immunisation Register is the First of Its Kind in the World

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Oct. 3, 2006 - Orion Health, a global provider of clinical workflow and integration technology for the healthcare sector, today announced that the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ) has named it the winner of the TUANZ Healthcare Award 2006 for the electronic National Immunisation Register (NIR) it created and deployed with the New Zealand Ministry of Health

The award was one of 15 given by the non-profit association as part of the TUANZ Innovation Awards 2006. The Innovation Awards "recognise and reward New Zealand innovation in telecommunications," and this year the awards focused on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), according to the group's Website, www.tuanz.org.nz.

Orion Health was selected as the winner in the healthcare category by an independent panel of judges who considered the uniqueness, ease-of-use, achievements and benefits of each provider's solution. Rick Rainey, Orion' Health's regional director, Asia Pacific, accepted an Innovation Award trophy on behalf of Orion Health at the awards dinner on Thursday, Sept. 28 at the Hyatt Regency in Auckland, New Zealand.

Orion Health worked with the New Zealand Ministry of Health to create the NIR system in response to a 1996 report that indicated NZ immunisation rates were historically low, especially for vaccine preventable communicable diseases.

"This award recognises the unique nature and success of the NIR." Says Rainey "It is a tribute to all the efforts that both Orion Health and the Ministry have put into this project to ensure its success. The willingness of all parties concerned to remain focused through a difficult four years has helped realise such a successful outcome. The NIR affects every New Zealander, and impacts their quality of life."

The NIR electronically links all immunisation providers and stakeholders including GP Practice Management systems and Maternity systems across the whole country as depicted on the following image: http://www.orionhealth.com/nir/nir01.jpg. Where possible, existing systems and workflows were preserved to maintain as little disruption as possible and ensure high user uptake.

The NIR allows authorised health professionals to quickly determine what vaccines a child has been given and helps ensure that children receive immunisations at the appropriate times. The register also provides outreach support to assist with ensuring people remain on the programme for their full schedule. The register covers the Meningococcal B campaign and from December 2005 all immunisations given to NZ newborn babies are recorded.

The NIR provides accurate real-time data at an individual, regional, and country level, to assist with clinical, service delivery and policy decision making. Data is also used to maximise the value of immunisation programmes by addressing inequalities across different population groups, as well as any programme uptake issues.

About the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ)
Formed in 1986, TUANZ is a not-for-profit organisation representing the end-users of telecommunications in New Zealand. Our mission is to raise New Zealand into the OECD's Top 10 countries in information and communications technologies with a special focus on communications. www.tuanz.org.nz.

About Orion Health
Orion Health's easy-to-use 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, US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and many more. More information can be found at www.orionhealth.com.