BOSTON and DALLAS, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- PatientKeeper(R) today announced that GE Healthcare has selected its mobile software technology. GE Healthcare will market and sell PatientKeeper software as Centricity(R) Physician Office Mobile(TM). PatientKeeper, a leading provider of mobile software solutions for healthcare, and GE Healthcare have partnered to offer tightly integrated mobile applications that will enable physicians to simultaneously view the patient’s electronic medical record, use powerful clinical decision support tools, accurately record charges for medical treatments, and more -- all with one mobile device. Centricity Mobile, which will be unveiled and demonstrated at the 2005 HIMSS Conference, February 13-17, Dallas, TX, will initially include charge capture, with other popular PatientKeeper applications being added over time. The new offering will be available to both new and existing customers.
“As the demands on medical office staff continue to escalate, Centricity Mobile provides the efficiency, workflow and productivity to allow providers to focus more on the patient while still enhancing their revenue,” said David Henriksen, general manager of GE Healthcare’s Centricity Physician Office.
Physicians own more technology (e.g., PDAs and smartphones) and go online more often than do other consumers. According to a North American Benchmark Study by Forrester Research, physicians are five times as likely to carry a personal digital assistant, such as a Palm OS or PocketPC device, than are typical consumers. Gartner, Inc. estimates that one in two doctors use PDAs.
“Mobile solutions have begun to play an increasingly vital role in healthcare as PDAs have become popular IT tools for physicians. We are excited to be working with GE Healthcare to provide a seamlessly integrated mobile solution for their customer base,” said Paul W. Brient, president and CEO of PatientKeeper, Inc. “This relationship extends PatientKeeper’s market reach and further establishes the PatientKeeper Platform(TM) as an industry standard for mobile computing in healthcare.”
Centricity Physician Office Mobile is part of GE Healthcare’s integrated approach to optimizing workflow throughout the healthcare enterprise. Centricity makes the computer-based patient record a reality by integrating information from patient monitors, diagnostic imaging systems and other ancillary hospital information systems into a centralized clinical data repository. This comprehensive record, combined with Centricity computerized provider order entry, enable a digital healthcare solution that is paperless, filmless and wireless. The Centricity suite of products includes workflow automation, clinical documentation, decision support and quality assurance tools used by thousands of customers worldwide.
The PatientKeeper Platform has quickly become the standard for mobile healthcare computing, enabling secure, portable, two-way exchange of patient and clinical data for a group practice, single hospital, or even an entire healthcare enterprise. The platform provides application interoperability, context management, advanced security features, centralized browser-based administration and reporting capabilities. The platform also supports a wide selection of handheld devices (Palm OS and PocketPC) and wireless and non- wireless transports (802.11, Bluetooth, WWAN, network cradles, infrared, etc.). These capabilities will allow GE Healthcare’s clients to establish an effective long-term strategy for handheld computing technology, without fear of obsolescence.
“GE Healthcare and PatientKeeper are two key innovators in healthcare information technology,” said Steven Q. Simpson, M.D., associate professor of medicine in the division of pulmonary diseases and critical care medicine at the Kansas University Hospital. “This partnership offers tremendous synergy for physicians and, ultimately, healthcare consumers. When physicians have access to the best IT, patients have access to the best care possible.”
To learn more about Centricity Physician Office Mobile and view the solution in action, visit GE Healthcare and PatientKeeper at HIMSS 2005, at booth numbers, 1710 and 5410, respectively.
About PatientKeeper
PatientKeeper(R), Inc. provides healthcare professionals with mobile computing solutions that deliver clinical and financial benefits. The PatientKeeper Platform(TM) easily integrates with existing information systems. PatientKeeper and its partners have created a portfolio of applications that allow doctors to interactively manage patient information, view clinical results, enter charges, dictate notes, write prescriptions, reference the clinical knowledge base, and more. PatientKeeper products include PatientKeeper Clinical Results(TM), PatientKeeper Charge Capture(TM), PatientKeeper Mobile Dictation(TM), PatientKeeper ePrescription(TM) (Powered by DrFirst), and PatientKeeper Reference Library(TM). Partners include: AT&T Wireless Services/Cingular, Cerner, DrFirst, Epocrates, IBM, Lexi-Comp, Skyscape, Sprint, Thomson-MICROMEDEX, and others. For more information, visit http://www.patientkeeper.com/ or call 617-987-0300.
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies that will shape a new age of patient care. GE Healthcare’s expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, disease research, drug discovery and biopharmaceuticals is dedicated to detecting disease earlier and tailoring treatment for individual patients. GE Healthcare offers a broad range of services to improve productivity in healthcare and enable healthcare providers to better diagnose, treat and manage patients with conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular diseases.
GE Healthcare is a $14 billion unit of General Electric Company that is headquartered in the United Kingdom. Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 42,500 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at http://www.gehealthcare.com/.
Contact: Andrea Kozek, GE Healthcare, andrea.kozek@ge.com, (414) 731-5869 Stephen S. Hau, PatientKeeper, shau@patientkeeper.com, (617) 987-0304 Amanda Sina, Schwartz Communications, patientkeeper@schwartz-pr.com, (781) 684-6269
PatientKeeper(R), Inc.
CONTACT: Andrea Kozek of GE Healthcare, andrea.kozek@ge.com, +1-414-731-5869; or Stephen S. Hau of PatientKeeper, shau@patientkeeper.com, +1-617-987-0304; or Amanda Sina of Schwartz Communications, patientkeeper@schwartz-pr.com, +1-781-684-6269