GE Healthcare Announces Three Groundbreaking Digital Programs with Leading Medical Institutions

NEW YORK, Nov 18, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --Partnership with Mayo Clinic Rochester and Intermountain Healthcare enables first ever digital sharing of published medical breakthroughs and best practices --Prominent healthcare industry leaders collaborate to leverage information technology, which will extend the reach of patient care GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company, today announced three initiatives to deliver the future of healthcare information technology (IT). Through collaborations with leading medical institutions, including Aspetar Hospital, Qatar Foundation, Intermountain Healthcare, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Montefiore Medical Center and the University of California San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF), GE is helping to deliver the promise of lower cost, higher quality healthcare that spans the entire continuum of care -- from the doctor's office to the patient's home.

"The use of digital technology is a key component to tackling the most difficult issue facing the healthcare system today: globally accessible, low-cost delivery of high-quality care," said John Dineen, president and CEO of GE Healthcare. "As GE and its partners have demonstrated, collaboration between organizations that bring different perspectives and expertise is critical to success. These three IT-based solutions provide a snapshot of the future of healthcare, which GE Healthcare and its partners are delivering today."

Below are details of the three new IT collaborations unveiled today by GE.

"Digital Day One"

GE unveiled the "Digital Day One" initiative aimed to reduce healthcare's digital divide in both emerging and mature markets. The initiative seeks to enhance performance from "day one" with IT starter kit offerings to ensure physicians offices and new hospitals perform at full potential. Aspetar Hospital in Qatar and Qatar Foundation are two of the first sites to partner with GE Healthcare on this healthcare IT solution.

GE's goal is to roll out the "Digital Day One" IT starter kit into more than 3,000 physician offices and new hospitals through 2012, providing rapid deployment, low-cost licensing and access to an extensive global network of collaborative healthcare organizations. During testing, "Digital Day One" pilot sites improved efficiency 33 percent in construction of new hospitals.

"We want the latest digital technology in every aspect of our operation and clinical practice," said Tom Moore, chief operating officer of Aspetar Hospital. "Together with GE, we've implemented healthcare IT software in record time, making a significant contribution toward Aspetar Hospital's global goal of delivering low-cost, high quality healthcare."

Dr. Titu Maini, science and technology adviser and chairman of Qatar Foundation, said, "Only GE has the products, research focus, investment approach and market understanding to partner with Qatar Foundation to accelerate innovation in healthcare in Qatar and around the world. We know that our partnership with GE will result in great advances in digital healthcare here in Qatar and ultimately worldwide, including the ability for all hospitals in all markets to open their doors with the best possible digital capabilities, from IT to clinical practices."

Medical Breakthroughs to Impact Patient Outcomes

GE, Intermountain Healthcare and Mayo Clinic Rochester have joined forces to enable the timely sharing of newly published medical breakthroughs and best practices with healthcare providers via relevant ongoing updates applicable to their specific areas of expertise.

For example, as new findings are released on the treatment of breast cancer, which information would automatically be sent to physicians who treat patients battling with the disease. This enables these clinicians to have immediate access to the most up-to-date published information, allowing doctors to provide patients with a higher quality of care.

"Once this solution is implemented, physicians will be continuously alerted to diagnostic research and treatment findings on a near real-time basis, a process that today takes almost 17 years," noted Marc Probst, chief information officer of Intermountain Healthcare.

Deployment of Industry Collaboration Toward High Performance

GE Healthcare, Intermountain Healthcare, Montefiore Medical Center, Mayo Clinic Rochester and UCSF announced a collaboration framework to develop and commercialize an open architecture that will connect today's disparate healthcare IT systems, allowing patients to seamlessly share their data with their various medical professionals. To help drive widespread adoption of healthcare IT, this new platform will allow physicians to share best practices across organizational lines and enable patients to take a more active role in their healthcare through the use of personal electronic health records.

As part of the collaboration framework, GE Healthcare and its partners have agreed to commit more than $200 million and 400 engineers over the course of development. The partners also introduced a series of monitoring, enterprise and integration solutions as the first phase of this framework.

"This collaboration framework is designed to establish a common platform for healthcare IT across the spectrum of delivery," said Probst.

Dineen concluded, "Today's three announcements are important milestones in GE Healthcare's ongoing efforts to providing transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. The power of IT is only just beginning to revitalize healthcare. We are confident that the changes we see in our lives will be as amazing as they are important."

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform, treat and monitor disease, so patients can live their lives to the fullest. GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases and other conditions earlier. Our vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company. Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our Web site at www.gehealthcare.com.

About Aspetar Hospital

Aspetar Hospital is the region's first specialized orthopedic and sports medicine hospital designed to provide the best possible treatment to athletes of all abilities. Inspired by the vision of HH Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Special Envoy to the Emir HH Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and directed by Dr Mohammed G A Al-Maadheed Aspetar has selected a host of talented and highly experienced medical consultants who are leading specialists in their fields to provide world class care and services in a truly modern, state-of-the art hospital. For more information about Aspetar Hospital, visit our Web site at www.en.aspetar.com.

About Qatar Foundation

Qatar Foundation is dedicated to building human capital in a part of the world where the need and potential for human development are considerable. Through its threefold mission of education, scientific research and community development, it is helping build a sustainable society where the sharing and creation of knowledge will enhance quality of life for all. Qatar Foundation was established in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, as a vehicle to convert the country's current, but temporary, mineral wealth into durable human capital. For more information about Qatar Foundation, visit our Web site at www.qf.org.qa.

About Intermountain Healthcare Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based system of nonprofit hospitals, clinics, and health services. With a commitment to provide excellent medical care to patients from our region regardless of their ability to pay, Intermountain's physicians, nurses, and other caregivers treat patients in Utah and southeastern Idaho. Primary Children's Medical Center, Intermountain Medical Center, McKay-Dee Hospital Center, LDS Hospital, Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and Dixie Regional Medical Center are part of Intermountain's family of 21 hospitals. For more information about Intermountain Healthcare, visit our Web site at www.intermountainhealthcare.org.

About Montefiore Medical Center Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, ranks among the top 1 percent of all U.S. hospitals for investments in medical innovation and cutting-edge technology. Montefiore's unique combination of "state-of-the-art" technology with "state-of-the-heart" medical and nursing care in a teaching and research environment offers our patients access to world-class medical experts and the newest and most innovative treatments, provided with an exceptional level of personal attention. For more information about Montefiore Medical Center, visit our Web site at www.montefiore.org.

About University California at San Francisco Medical Center UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Children's Hospital are recognized as world leaders in health care, known for innovative medicine, advanced technology and compassionate care. For more than a century, we have offered the highest quality medical treatment. Today, our expertise covers virtually all conditions, including cancer, heart disease, infertility, neurological disorders, organ transplantation and orthopedics as well as special services for women and children. For more information about University of California San Francisco Medical Center, visit our Web site at www.ucsfhealth.org.

SOURCE: GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare
Jennifer Francis, 630-338-6426 (cell)
[email protected]