Avega Health Systems Welcomes Five New Clients In December 2004

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Avega Health Systems is pleased to announce that five new clients purchased components of the Alliance Suite in December 2004. Avega’s five new clients are Salem Hospital in Salem, Oregon; Seton Healthcare Network in Austin, Texas; The Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties in Orangeburg, South Carolina; Akron General Medical Center in Akron, Ohio; and Children’s Hospital Medical Center Akron in Akron, Ohio.

Salem Hospital is one of Oregon’s largest acute care facilities with 454 beds, and offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient services to the Portland area. Salem Hospital will be using Alliance Decision Support, myAlliance and Key Indicators to support their cost accounting, contract management, clinical analysis, and enterprise-wide reporting needs. According to Christine Mason, Director of Application Services, “Salem Hospital purchased Avega’s Alliance products to re-define how we get data into the hands of our managers. We have a number of clinical and quality initiatives that can only be supported by more consistent, accurate and timely information. After evaluating several of the industry leaders in Decision Support, we chose Avega because they had the superior solution. They also clearly had the most satisfied client base.”

Seton Healthcare Network is the leading provider of healthcare services in Central Texas, serving an 11-county population of 1.4 million. The network includes five urban acute care hospitals, two rural hospitals, a mental health hospital, several strategically located health facilities, and three primary care clinics for the uninsured. They operate several unique regional services, including the only trauma center, dedicated children’s hospital and heart transplant program. Seton Healthcare Network is one of the largest components of Ascension Health, the largest not-for-profit health network with more than 100,000 employees in 20 states.

The Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties (TRMC) is a 268-bed, acute care, regional medical center owned by Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties in South Carolina. Serving a six-county area, the medical center has a multitude of specialties and programs that offer the latest advancements in medical care. TRMC will be using Avega’s Alliance Decision Support, including Avega’s newest reporting component Alliance Key Indicators, for all their decision support needs.

Akron General Hospital is an award winning hospital. This 537-bed tertiary care teaching hospital has earned national honors including being listed in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” issue for the third year in a row, the city of Akron’s only hospital to be named to Solucient’s “Top 100 Cardiovascular Hospitals” and Solucient’s “100 Most Improved Hospitals,” and they have repeatedly been named “Akron’s Most Preferred Hospital for Overall Quality and Image” by National Research Corporation. Akron General Hospital has signed with Avega to implement the full Alliance Suite. According to Nancy Jones, Chief Information Officer, “Akron General Medical Center purchased Avega’s Alliance Suite to make data available to our decision makers anytime, anywhere, no matter if they are at work or at home by using the web capabilities. The tools that are offered with Avega’s application ensures data accuracy and integrity throughout our health system in a timely manner.”

Children’s Hospital Medical Center Akron has developed a full-service pediatric medical center for children from birth through adolescence, as well as burn victims of all ages. Children’s serves a population of 2.5 million, representing nearly one of every 100 children nationwide. Children’s was ranked one of the best children’s hospitals in the country by Child magazine in 2002 and 2003. According to Jeffrey Hale, Vice President, Information Management, “Children’s Hospital Medical Center of Akron evaluated the products from the industry leaders and felt Avega had the superior solution, not only with their product but with their implementation and support and satisfied client base.” Mr. Hale continued on to say that Akron Children’s will be using Avega’s Alliance Decision Support, myAlliance and Key Indicator products to “develop costs at the charge item level, aggregate cost data at the service line and physician level, monitor third party payments with contract terms, provide easier, quicker access to data, and automate reporting of key performance indicators.”

The Alliance Suite integrates financial, clinical, and administrative information to support decision-making across the healthcare enterprise. Combining OLAP and Ad-Hoc reporting with a web-based distribution tool, Alliance helps you improve clinical performance, control costs, manage and negotiate contracts, develop your budget and analyze productivity across one organization or many.

Avega has been providing decision support software and services to the healthcare industry for 21 years. In addition to its corporate office in El Segundo, CA, Avega maintains an office in Nashville, TN.

Contact: Christina Vaden, Corporate Marketing 310.563.3200 marketing@avega.comhttp://www.avega.com/

Avega Health Systems

CONTACT: Christina Vaden, Corporate Marketing of Avega Health Systems,+1-310-563-3200, marketing@avega.com