MALVERN, Pa.--June 21, 2006--Addressing the specific challenges of how physician practices connect to larger healthcare organizations, Siemens Medical Solutions has announced four new partnerships with key healthcare facilities across the U.S. Alegent Health (Omaha, Neb.), Greenwood Leflore Hospital (Greenwood, Miss.), Meridian Health (Neptune, N.J.), and Saint Joseph's Hospital (Yonkers, N.Y.) have signed with Siemens to implement NextGen Healthcare's electronic medical record (NextGen(R) EMR) and/or enterprise practice management (NextGen(R) EPM) solutions, key components of Siemens' healthcare information technology (IT) portfolio.

"The need for real-time patient data and image accessibility across acute and ambulatory environments is an issue of significant importance as we move toward the goal of electronic medical records for all Americans," said Tom Miller, president, Healthcare IT Division, Siemens Medical Solutions. "The Siemens/NextGen Healthcare partnership provides a one-stop source for interoperability and enables healthcare facilities to optimize inpatient and outpatient workflow and streamline care delivery across settings."

For example, Alegent Health, a system of eight acute care hospitals, a primary care physician network of more than 40 clinical sites supporting over 100 employed physician associates, and an 800-physician member Physician Hospital Organization, required a solution that allowed its numerous facilities and employees real-time access to images, protocols, and data exchange. Already using a variety of Siemens enterprise healthcare IT solutions, including Soarian(R) Clinical Access, Soarian Health Information Management and Siemens Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), Alegent signed for 180 NextGen EMR licenses in support of its ambulatory connectivity initiatives.


"As a large healthcare system, we are continuously seeking solutions which not only help solve the issues we face today, but also allow us to scale our facilities for the future," said Ken Lawonn, senior vice president and CIO, Alegent Health. "In supporting our physicians and clinicians with advanced IT tools like the NextGen EMR, our goal is to create a streamlined patient experience from admission to follow up, enhance workflow and minimize redundancy throughout our entire system. Our partnership with Siemens has enabled us to create a single-solution environment that is integrated and patient-focused."

Siemens and NextGen Healthcare announced a strategic partnership in February 2005, uniting Siemens' expertise in enterprise healthcare IT solutions and advanced medical imaging technologies for the acute and specialty environments with NextGen Healthcare's industry leadership in ambulatory EMR and practice management software. Today, several providers are live on combined Siemens/NextGen offerings, including NextGen EPM integrated with Siemens RIS/PACS, which provides a complete solution for managing imaging workflow from scheduling, registration and interpretation to billing.

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