Medcenter One to Transform Surgical Care with Software Solutions from Surgical Information Systems.

ATLANTA -- Bismarck-based Medcenter One will soon enjoy improved patient safety, quality care, operational efficiencies and financial outcomes, with solutions from the leading provider of perioperative information systems, Alpharetta-based Surgical Information Systems (SIS). In phase I of a four phase project, Medcenter One will implement the foundation for all SIS solutions - SIS Scheduling - enabling them to manage their surgery department more cost-effectively through the efficient and optimized scheduling of patients and resources. SIS will also provide its powerful Rules Based Charging solution, allowing Medcenter One to automate complex charging functions while complying with payer rules. Future phases of the project will give Medcenter One the option to add additional clinical modules, including StatCom O.R., a real-time, web-based workflow communications tool that instantly communicates the status of a case or staff member, or the location of a patient or important equipment. Learn more about innovative surgery management solutions at http://www.orsoftware.com/medcenterone.

Once installed, Medcenter One will transform from a primarily paper-based surgery department to an automated one, and will begin enjoying the benefits of increased surgeon satisfaction, improved room utilization and surgical throughput, and more accurate patient clinical documentation. By automating the scheduling process, Medcenter One will decrease avoidable scheduling errors, greatly improve time management and ultimately provide better patient care - their chief objective.

"Managing a hospital surgery department without the benefits of an information technology solution is a challenge," says Collette Carlson, RN, BSN, MBM, CNOR, Surgical Services Director for Medcenter One. "Information is power, but its power can only be measured through accuracy and believability." Carlson adds, "The leap from paper documentation to point-of-care online documentation with SIS will help us improve staff workflow, increase scheduling efficiency, and improve patient safety, resulting in a win-win situation for our patients and our staff."

"When an organization makes that initial decision to abandon manual practices and invest in a surgery management system, they are taking a leap of faith," said Scott L'Heureux, president and COO of Surgical Information Systems. "The experts at SIS can easily predict the return on investment (ROI) because we've proven it time and time again." The SIS Rules Based Charging solution, slated for a later phase in the Medcenter One project, has afforded numerous organizations the opportunity for greatly increased charge capture, increased accuracy of billing and flexible and automated capture of charges in accordance with payer contracts. Since installing the RBC module, one SIS client saw their dropped charges decrease from a high of 3.5 percent of gross revenue in 2002, to a low of 1.7 percent of gross revenue in 2003." L'Heureux adds, "For Medcenter One to place their trust in us is an honor, and something we don't take lightly. They will succeed because we will see to it that they do."

Surgical Information Systems (SIS) provides automated intelligence across the entire perioperative continuum, empowering hospitals to enhance patient care and business operations. SIS centralizes and unites all information exchanged between the people, processes and resources associated with surgery to deliver fast, accurate and comprehensive information precisely when it is needed most - at the scheduling desk, point-of-care, O.R. control center, surgeon's office, with materials management, and in the executive boardroom. Surgical Information Systems holds strategic partnerships with both Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) Corporations. For more information, visit http://www.orsoftware.com/medcenterone.