innovation.............................
Press Release Source: Cerner Corp.
Healthcare IT Leader Cerner Announces Entry into Healthcare Device Market
Tuesday February 14, 8:30 am ET
Cerner CareAware Unites Healthcare Device Availability and Connectivity to Increase Patient Safety
KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2006--Cerner Corp. (Nasdaq: CERN - News) today unveiled its plans to enter into the healthcare device manufacturing and connectivity markets.
"For more than a quarter century, Cerner has been driving the automation of healthcare through its industry-leading information technology solutions," said Neal Patterson, Cerner chairman and chief executive officer. "Today, Cerner is taking the next step to providing our clients with end-to-end solutions that deliver a greater level of patient safety and increase organizational efficiency."
The first line of connected devices, to be called CareAware(TM), will offer medical products, software and connectivity solutions that will complement and enhance the company's ongoing commitment to eliminating errors and improving effectiveness in healthcare. The CareAware devices will work seamlessly with Cerner Millennium®, the company's unified healthcare IT architecture, to provide clinicians a unique approach to managing patients' information and treatments, increasing collaboration among departments and eliminating duplication and fragmentation.
Recent studies show the evident need for transferable data between a patient's electronic medical record and clinical treatment. According to the Institute of Medicine, preventable medication errors result in more than 7,000 deaths annually in hospitals, with medication errors occurring in 20 percent of doses administered. In addition to the loss in human life, errors result in significant financial losses for healthcare organizations. A study in the Journal of the American Pharmacy Association noted that the annual cost of drug-related morbidity and mortality is $177 billion.
Cerner's first CareAware offering debuted this week during the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in San Diego. The CareAware RxStation(TM) collection of devices is designed to revolutionize the medication process. Automated dispensing machines and their supporting systems will link with the Cerner Millennium software, connecting information from a patient's medical history directly with the clinicians and the pharmacy.
The first implementation of the CareAware RxStation devices will begin this summer at Sun Health, a non-profit community healthcare network offering acute, long-term, residential and home-delivered healthcare and related services to people of all ages in the western suburbs of Phoenix.
In addition, Cerner is working together with several device manufacturers to develop integrated clinical data delivery mechanisms, allowing interoperability between Cerner Millennium technology and healthcare providers' hardware. For example, Welch Allyn, a leading manufacturer of frontline medical devices and solutions, and Cerner intend to work with select client sites to study workflow efficiencies and innovative methods for turning patient data into actionable healthcare information.
Cerner Corp. is taking the paper chart out of healthcare, eliminating error, variance and waste in the care process. With more than 1,500 clients worldwide, Cerner is the leading supplier of healthcare information technology. The following are trademarks of Cerner: Cerner Millennium, CareAware, RxStation. NASDAQ: CERN. www.cerner.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. It is important to note that the Company's performance, and actual results, financial condition or business could differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. The words "plan", "to be", "will" or the negative of these words, variations thereof or similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: changes in the healthcare industry, significant competition, the Company's proprietary technology may be subjected to infringement claims or may be infringed upon, government regulations, the possibility of product-related liabilities, possible errors or failures in the performance of the Company's software, risks related to third party suppliers; and, failure of the parties to achieve the intended benefits. Additional discussion of these and other factors affecting the Company's business is contained in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes.
Contact:
Cerner Corp.
Media:
Jennifer Bosshardt, 816-201-0048
jennifer.bosshardt@cerner.com
or
Investors:
Allan Kells, 816-201-2445
akells@cerner.com
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Source: Cerner Corp.
