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Increased efficiency and process optimization in the hospital

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Effective immediately, Siemens Healthcare is offering EHP4 (Enhancement Package 4) for its i.s.h.med hospital information system (HIS). In keeping with the new HIS development strategy "i.s.h.med goes Soarian," design features of the Soarian HIS have been integrated in i.s.h.med for the first time. For example, the new ward documentation workstation for i.s.h.med now features a new user interface with a Soarian-oriented operating concept. Other innovations offered by EHP4 include e.g. an integrated graphic curve, the "OP" documentation workstation, bed allocation management compatible with SOA (service oriented architecture), as well as supplements to the Medication module for a more extensive and more efficient prescription process.

Siemens supports its customers in efficient workflow design with a number of new processoriented modules and functions included in EHP4 (Enhancement Package 4) for the i.s.h.med hospital information system (HIS). "Our customers face the day-to-day challenge of cutting costs while at the same time improving the treatment process. Siemens offers solutions for continuous process enhancement that are geared to our customers' needs. We understand the market and its inherent dynamics. Hardly any other competitor can offer a comparable level of know-how in addition to its portfolio," says Stefan Herm, Senior Vice President of Health Services Europe at Siemens Healthcare Sector.

In the new release, i.s.h.med has been enhanced with elements characteristic of the Soarian HIS, whose design unites all of the features that distinguish an innovative HIS today: smart user interface, service-oriented architecture (SOA) and active workflow support.

Information management with the i.s.h.med documentation workstations

Features and functions are often the dominating selection criteria for IT solutions. Siemens is following a different philosophy with the i.s.h.med ward documentation workstation: The new module maps routine clinical situations and serves as a comprehensive production control and monitoring system. Only the information relevant to the user for the current phase of treatment is withdrawn from the patient record and displayed. Extensive filter functions within the record structure support the decision-making process in routine cases. All of the following steps required to process tasks are automatically inferred and can be preallocated with data as far as possible. Inpatient processes can thus be administered and coordinated in hospitals more effectively than before. The physician has an overview of all the important information on previous treatment when making his rounds. Measured values such as vital signs and information on the medicines administered can be visualized graphically. New task management functions enable cross-role communication in order to easily and reliably coordinate the cooperation between the physicians and the nursing staff.

According to these basic principles, the OR and Radiology documentation workstations were also redesigned taking specific departmental requirements into consideration. Depending on the user's role, a predefined task profile is applied and a situation-oriented view of the patient record is provided. The linkage of the radiology workstation to an image archive also enables direct references to existing image studies from the diagnostic reporting process.

Optimal utilization of resources with i.s.h.med allocation management

The bed resources of one or more hospitals can be viewed and managed using the i.s.h.med allocation management feature. The functional scope of the allocation management also includes time scheduling and integration with the patient administration and station management functions. At the same time, multiple systems containing patient data can be connected. This makes it possible to use the i.s.h.med allocation management feature without drastically restructuring the hospital IT system. Due to the SOA architecture, it is also generally possible to integrate patient management systems that are not SAP-based. The prerequisite for this is a suitable service interface. The i.s.h.med allocation management feature can be used on all systems where the Internet Explorer is installed on the corresponding client.

Logging data accesses with Application Logging

Application Logging records write and read accesses to patient-related medical documentation, specifying the point of time and the executing user. The scope and contents of the log can be configured in order to control the volume of data generated during logging.

More comprehensive and more efficient prescription process with i.s.h.med Medication

The new functions of i.s.h.med Medication simplify the administration of complex drug catalogs as well as the recording and administration of prescriptions. This includes an extended medicine search function and a fast input feature for standard prescriptions. The physician often requires the patient's current medication status and vital signs for a prescription. A graphic progress display showing the interaction between the prescription and the curve provides the required information at a glance, thus helping to save time when recording the prescription.

Efficient outpatient workflows by integrating assignment and scheduling

Outpatient departments are also increasingly using scheduling as a means of enhancing the utilization of their capacities while simultaneously achieving short patient waiting times. New functions featured in i.s.h.med more strongly integrate schedule management in assignment recording than previously. Basic information such as the referring physician, diagnosis and required treatment is recorded immediately during the first appointment scheduling. The outpatient department therefore already has more extensive information on the patient in the planning phase. In addition, the time required to record the necessary information when the patient arrives is kept short.

About the i.s.h.med hospital information system

The i.s.h.med software solution is the only clinical information system worldwide that is fully integrated into SAP. The i.s.h.med hospital information system is used in over 300 clinics located in Belgium, Chile, Germany, Israel, Italy, Columbia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, and Turkey. I.s.h.med is thus one of the world's leading healthcare IT solutions. Based on the industry solution "SAP for Healthcare," the i.s.h.med hospital information system offers functionalities for the clinical area. Since recently, all rights of use and patent rights belonging to the i.s.h.med software are owned by Siemens.

The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the largest suppliers of healthcare technology worldwide. The company is a medical solution provider with core competences and innovative strengths in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as knowledge processing, including information technology and system integration. With its acquisitions in laboratory diagnostics, Siemens Healthcare is the first integrated healthcare company that combines imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy solutions and medical information technology and also supplements these with consultation and services. Siemens Healthcare offers solutions for the entire supply chain under one roof - from prevention and early detection to diagnosis and on to treatment and aftercare. In addition, Siemens Healthcare is the world market leader for innovative hearing instruments. The company employs some 49,000 employees worldwide and is present in more than 130 countries. During fiscal 2008 (ending on September 30), Siemens Healthcare achieved a total sales volume of 11.17 billion euros and incoming orders totaling 11.78 billion euros. The Sector profit from operations amounted to €1.23 billion (preliminary figures).

Marion Bludszuweit | Quelle: Siemens Healthcare Sector
Weitere Informationen: www.siemens.com/healthcare

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