Brother Announces Its 2004 Top Ten List: ``How to Get More Out of Your Healthcare Office Equipment''.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

HIMSS 2004 Annual Conference

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2004

Brother International Corporation today announced its 2004 Healthcare Top Ten List, "How to Get More Out of Your Healthcare Office Equipment," at the annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference and exhibition in Orlando, Florida, February 22-26, 2004.

"With healthcare costs rising, hospitals and physician practices are demanding solutions that deliver compelling price/performance and high quality. Unfortunately, office equipment is often overlooked as a potential opportunity for significant cost savings. That's why Brother developed a list of some of the easiest, most practical and short-term ways for healthcare organizations to improve productivity and save money, day after day, year after year," says Ben Perry, CHP, national healthcare sales manager at Brother. "Our 2004 Healthcare Top Ten List addresses many critical healthcare issues from patient privacy and security to bar coding and ePrescribing, focusing on how healthcare CFOs, MIS, practice and materials managers, as well as clinicians, can use healthcare office solutions to improve productivity and help reduce costs."

Brother's 2004 Top Ten List: "How to Get More Out of Your Healthcare Office Equipment"

1. Ensure patient confidentiality. Make sure your fax machine,

printer or Multi-Function Center(R) model allows you to set a

personal password to ensure patient confidentiality when

sending or printing medical records and other patient

information. And, safeguard your medical records by securely

scanning them to the network or to a PDF file so that they

cannot be altered.

2. Support mobile clinicians. Acquire equipment that supports the

clinical workflow so that physicians, nurses and other

clinicians can be paged when important faxes come in. Then, if

they are away from the office, make certain you have the

capability to forward their faxes to them at a remote location

of their choice.

3. Ensure low total cost of ownership (TCO). Considering that you

typically spend 80% of your costs after purchase, ensure your

solution stacks up by looking at TCO. Remember that TCO is

much more than just the cost per page, so make sure you

include everything from initial acquisition cost and supplies

to service options and support programs.

4. Save staff time and improve productivity. Be certain your

equipment can handle demanding multi-user healthcare

environments where speed and reliability are essential. For

example, get a system with dual-access capability so you can

copy, print or perform color scanning while faxing.

5. Go 33.6K+. Make sure your fax is at least 33.6K bps to optimize

transmission speed for coverage verification and claims

submission. Keep in mind that faxes are transmitted at the

speed of the slowest machine, so by choosing a high-speed fax,

you also ensure efficiency for other high-speed fax users.

6. Maximize limited work space. Consider a Multi-Function

Center(R) model that consolidates all the features of many

separate, dedicated machines--like a printer, fax, copier,

color scanner or PC fax--into one small, space-saving unit.

7. Save paper. Get two-sided (duplex) printing, which

automatically prints documents on both sides of paper for

compact medical record storage.

8. Give patients instructions at the point of care. Every time you

ePrescribe, use a mobile, palm-sized printer to give patients

a hardcopy at the point of care so physicians can immediately

answer any medication questions.

9. Use laminated bar-code labels. Abrasion resistant,

high-resolution, laminated bar-code labels don't deteriorate

in light or water, so they are safer and more readable for

clinicians and patients, as well as more accurate when

scanned. Make sure that your labeling solution is flexible

enough to address your needs in the lab, office and clinic and

can print custom signage, badges, photos and anything else you

can see on a PC screen.

10. Responsive support network: To keep you working in busy

hospital and group practice environments, make sure your

office equipment vendor can adapt to your unique situation and

provide prompt and flexible on-site support or quick

turnaround time on replacement units, should you need them.

And, this should be done without undue additional costs.

About Brother International Corporation

Brother's healthcare office solutions provide one of the easiest ways for healthcare organizations to improve productivity and save money, day after day, year after year. Our award-winning Multi-Function Center(R) models, laser printers, fax machines and P-touch(R) labeling systems are ideal for demanding, fast-paced healthcare environments where speed, reliability and security are critical. Brother International Corporation is a subsidiary of Brother Industries, Ltd., a multi-billion dollar company with diversified worldwide sales, distribution, engineering and manufacturing operations, dedicated to solving the daily challenges of improving productivity and reducing costs. For more information on how you can expect more and get it from your healthcare office equipment, visit http://www.brother.com.

Editor's Note: Electronic media kits are available upon request.