MALVERN, Pa., Aug 03, 2006 -- Siemens Medical Solutions (www.usa.siemens.com/medical) has signed a strategic multi-year agreement to provide information technology (IT) outsourcing and consulting services to Baptist Saint Anthony (BSA) Health System in Amarillo, Texas. Through this strategic agreement, Siemens will provide BSA with one point of accountability for IT support and remotely manage the facility's use of INVISION(R), Siemens' comprehensive health information solution which helps healthcare facilities achieve tangible quality and patient safety outcomes, while forming the basis for an enterprise-wide electronic health record (EHR).

"Our work with Baptist Saint Anthony demonstrates our commitment to helping healthcare facilities effectively deploy solutions and manage the increasing use of IT within their organizations," said Janet Dillione, president, Healthcare IT Division, Siemens Medical Solutions. "By combining our product domain expertise with our consulting and outsourcing services, we've created an effective, full solution that can positively impact Baptist Saint Anthony's operations and the quality of care its staff delivers."

Employing more than 500 physicians and named one of America's Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for the past five years, BSA is a multi-faceted hospital system acclaimed for its superior quality of care and customer service. Prior to partnering with Siemens, BSA outsourced the majority of its IT operations except for INVISION, which was managed in-house by BSA IT employees for more than 10 years. Within that period of time, INVISION became an integral part of BSA's healthcare IT initiatives. However, as BSA's patient numbers grew and the organization's reliance on IT as a strategic asset followed suit, management of core systems, as well as other various applications, servers and infrastructure vendors became increasingly challenging.


"As our organization continues to grow, we need an IT partner that understands our facility, our employees and our goals," said Michael Cruz, vice president, operations, Baptist Saint Anthony. "With Siemens we have access to seasoned professionals who can guide us and adequately manage the breadth of our IT infrastructure to help ensure our systems are aligned to support high-quality patient care. The remote management of INVISION from Siemens' Malvern headquarters will provide us with the added value of off-site personnel and expertise, as well as fail-safe backup systems."

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