Siemens Medical Solutions Receives CCHIT Certification for Soarian Clinicals
MALVERN, Pa., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Siemens Medical Solutions (www.usa.siemens.com/healthcareit) today announced that Soarian(R) Clinicals V2.0C5 with Siemens Pharmacy and Med Administration Check(TM) V24.0 has achieved pre-market, conditionally CCHIT Certified(sm) status from the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT(sm)) and meets the Commission's newly launched inpatient electronic health record (EHR) criteria for 2007. Inpatient EHRs are designed for use in acute care hospitals. Pre-market, conditionally certified EHRs are new products that are fully certified once their operational use in a hospital site has been verified. The Commission - an independent, nonprofit organization - is the Recognized Certification Body in the United States for certifying health information technology products.
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In addition to meeting foundation standards such as security, certified inpatient products are examined for clinician order entry (often called CPOE) and medication administration capabilities (often called eMAR), including related clinical decision support. As a CCHIT Certified product, Soarian Clinicals V2.0C5 with Siemens Pharmacy and Med Administration Check V24.0 has been tested and passed inspection of 100 percent of a set of criteria for CPOE and eMAR. The Commission focused certification testing on these areas first because they have the lowest rate of adoption in hospitals but are thought to offer the highest value for improvement of care.
"The thorough inspection process ensures that certified products have demonstrated their ability to have a positive impact on the quality and safety of patient care," said Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Commission. "I'd like to congratulate the first round of certified product companies, who now represent the leading edge in advanced EHR products for the inpatient setting."
Siemens offers many solutions that assist healthcare organizations in establishing closed-loop medication management processes that support improvements to the safety, timeliness, and effectiveness of ordering, dispensing, and administering medications, thereby reducing the risk of medication errors and adverse events. The solution of Soarian Clinicals V2.0C5 with Siemens Pharmacy and Med Administration Check V24.0 provides a workflow-engineered healthcare information system that enables physicians and other care givers to capture and manage their orders; the pharmacists to ensure accuracy and efficiency when drugs are dispensed; and nurses to verify the right patient, right time and frequency, right dosage, right route of administration and right medication at the point of administration. Additionally, Soarian provides the tools needed to support evidence-based decision making and its powerful workflow engine allows alerts, triggers and rules to be set by the healthcare providers, prompting care givers to take immediate action as soon as there is a gap or breakdown in the planned care delivery process . helping to ensure the highest quality of patient care delivery.
The CCHIT Certified mark - a "seal of approval" for EHR products - provides the first consensus-based, government-recognized benchmark for inpatient EHR products. By looking to products with the CCHIT Certified seal, acute care providers can reduce their risk in selecting EHR products for CPOE and eMAR.
"Being one of the first inpatient vendors to have a CCHIT certified product clearly demonstrates our ongoing commitment to support our customers by meeting the changing industry requirements. Siemens also is and always will be committed to developing solutions that help healthcare providers to improve patient safety, optimize workflows and deliver more cost-effective care initiatives," explained Janet Dillione, president, Health Services, the Healthcare IT Division of Siemens Medical Solutions. "We believe this certification clearly demonstrates that our Soarian platform is one such solution that can aid organizations in meeting all of these crucial goals. We look forward to continuing to work with our customers, partners, industry colleagues, and the Certification Commission to drive EHR standardization and information technology adoption."
CCHIT's certification compliance criteria and its design for a certification inspection process have been thoroughly researched, taking into account the state of the art of EHRs and available standards, and comparing certification processes in other industries and other countries.
The inspection process is based on real-life medical scenarios designed to test products rigorously against the clinical needs of providers and the quality and safety needs of healthcare consumers and payers. One script, for example, recreates a scenario of a middle-aged man admitted through the emergency department after sustaining fractures in an automobile accident. The script tests the ability of the EHR to provide clinical decision support during the ordering and administration of medications, and to track whether laboratory and radiology orders have been entered and received.
About Siemens Medical Solutions
Siemens Medical Solutions of Siemens AG is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is known for bringing together innovative medical technologies, healthcare information systems, management consulting, and support services, to help customers achieve tangible, sustainable, clinical and financial outcomes. Recent acquisitions in the area of in-vitro diagnostics - such as Diagnostic Products Corporation and Bayer Diagnostics - mark a significant milestone for Siemens as it becomes the first full service diagnostics company. Employing more than 41,000 people worldwide and operating in over 130 countries, Siemens Medical Solutions reported sales of 8.23 billion EUR, orders of 9.33 billion EUR and group profit of 1.06 billion EUR for fiscal 2006 (Sept. 30). Further information can be found by visiting www.usa.siemens.com/medical-pressroom.
About CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT(sm)) is an independent, nonprofit organization that has been named by the federal government as the Recognized Certification Body for health information technology. Its mission is to accelerate the adoption of health information technology by creating a credible, sustainable certification program. The certification requirements are based on widely accepted industry standards and involve the work of hundreds of expert volunteers and input from a variety of stakeholders throughout the health care industry. More information on CCHIT and CCHIT Certified(sm) products is available at www.cchit.org. "CCHIT(sm)" and "CCHIT Certified(sm)" are service marks of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology.
CONTACT: Michele Bowman of Siemens Medical Solutions, +1-610-448-3236,
michele.bowman@siemens.com; Sue Reber of CCHIT, +1-503-703-0813,
sreber@cchit.org
Web site: http://www.usa.siemens.com/healthcareit/
http://www.usa.siemens.com/medical-pressroom/
http://www.cchit.org/