Spacelabs Medical CDR on Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Demonstrated at HIMSS `99.

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 1999--Spacelabs Medical (Nasdaq:SLMD) showed a new version of its Caremaster(TM) Data Repository (CDR) using Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 at last month's HIMSS meeting in Atlanta. The improved speed and performance of the CDR was demonstrated at the company's exhibit and is also in active clinical use.

Spacelabs' CDR is a clinical data repository that receives, standardizes, stores, and graphically displays patient data from other information systems, including ADT, lab, radiology, notes, ECG, clinical observations, allergies, transcription and orders. The application integrates patient data into an easy-to-use tool that provides physicians and other clinicians with immediate access to a patient's complete clinical history.

The CDR's user interface gives physicians ready access to patient information from anywhere in a healthcare enterprise or from remote locations such as a home office. Because the CDR provides information wherever needed, it also benefits hospital medical records departments by dramatically reducing the number of chart pulls.

The CDR is installed and running at client sites such as CentraCare's St. Cloud Hospital. The installation at CentraCare's St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota has well over 1,000 users and over 40,000 accesses each month. St. Cloud's implementation includes:

-- Over 2,100 workstations using NT workstation, 95, 98 & Thin

Client Carewindows(TM)

-- Over 110 physicians access the system from their homes

-- Over 45 physician groups outside the hospital use the CDR

-- 36 Patient care departments within the hospital use the CDR

-- 28GB database (4+ years data)

St. Cloud recently migrated the CDR at the server end from Sybase System 11 and UNIX to Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and Windows NT Server in order to avoid supporting two separate platforms (Microsoft Windows NT and UNIX). The result is a database application that is scalable for the healthcare enterprise and provides lower cost, faster, and easier deployment. The initial implementation at St. Cloud hospital has been extremely successful, demonstrating 200-400% increased performance, reduced backup times, and easier administration. In addition, hardware, licensing, and support costs were reduced. In particular, support, cost and complexity issues associated with maintaining a heterogeneous environment (UNIX and Microsoft Windows) are significantly decreased. The switch to the Windows environment provides many benefits to St. Cloud and future customers.

"Spacelabs has done an outstanding job demonstrating the scalability, reliability and performance of Microsoft's SQL Server 7.0 with their new version of Caremaster Data Repository," said Rich Noffsinger, worldwide group industry manager of Microsoft. "Spacelabs use of other Microsoft technologies such as Microsoft Management Console has also made the system exceedingly easy to support. Overall, the migration of their application from Sybase System 11 and UNIX to Windows NT Server and SQL Server 7.0 will result in a great value enhancement of performance at a lower price for their customers."

Spacelabs Medical is a leading provider of integrated healthcare information systems and medical instrumentation.

Copyright Spacelabs Medical, Inc. 1999.