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Cerner, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Launch Statewide Community Health Record; Innovative model connects healthcare organizations, reduces costs and eliminates frictionKANSAS CITY, Mo. & CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --(Business Wire)-- May 27, 2005 -- Cerner Corp. and Shared Health, a new company formed by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, will use Cerner's healthcare information technology solutions to connect healthcare organizations throughout Tennessee, enabling clinicians to make more informed decisions while reducing costs and increasing care quality for Tennesseans. "The community health record directly supports President Bush's mandate to leverage existing healthcare technology to provide 'consumer-centric and information-rich care' by centralizing an individual's healthcare information," said Neal Patterson, chairman and chief executive officer of Cerner. "In Tennessee, you see the value of that approach at work. And as we deploy this community health record in the months ahead, I believe it will stand not only as a national model, but a testament to the role that the private sector can play in helping solve the U.S. healthcare crisis." Shared Health's community health record (CHR), titled Community Connection, removes a key obstacle in the healthcare delivery system -- information silos that delay healthcare decisions, drive up costs and increase the potential for error and waste. Through the use of Community Connection, different healthcare providers treating the same person can view aggregated visit, medication, laboratory and immunization claims information from multiple sources through a secure Web site. By providing more than 12 months of coordinated, person-centric information from across the health system, clinicians will be able to make more informed decisions at the point of care. "Shared Health adds a new dimension to the fast-developing world of health information technology, which is consistent with the vision recently outlined by Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt," said Vicky Gregg, president and chief executive officer of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. "Through a secure, Web-based, person-centric record, Community Connection provides claims and health information for a broad population, such as Medicaid participants. This creates efficiencies that enhance our efforts to keep healthcare affordable and accessible," said Gregg. Healthcare efficiencies facilitated by Community Connection include reductions in duplicate tests, adverse drug effects and unnecessary inpatient admissions. As a result, Shared Health projects that $3 to $4 will be saved by the second year of operation for every $1 spent on the new technology. Community Connection began as a pilot program at four sites across Tennessee as a way to reduce costs and increase the quality of care provided to members of Tennessee's managed Medicaid program. Pilot sites included a rural emergency department; a rural primary care practice; a metropolitan primary care practice; and an urban, school-based, well-child screening practice. Early indications from participating clinicians support the immediate value of the person-centric information available in the CHR. Shared Health's goal is to offer Community Connection to all participants of TennCare, as well as BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's commercial and private health plan clients beginning this summer. In 2006, the program will be made available to Medicare participants, establishing Shared Health's Community Connection as a true statewide community health record that delivers benefits to all stakeholders of the healthcare system. Cerner Corp. is taking the paper chart out of healthcare, eliminating error, variance and waste in the care process. With more than 1,500 clients worldwide, Cerner is the leading supplier of healthcare information technology. The following are trademarks of Cerner: Cerner, Cerner's logo, NASDAQ: CERN, www.cerner.com. This release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. It is important to note that the Company's performance, and actual results, financial condition or business could differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. The words "will", "believe", "goal" and "projects" or the negative of these words, variations thereof or similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: changes in the healthcare industry, significant competition, the Company's proprietary technology may be subjected to infringement claims or may be infringed upon, government regulations, the possibility of product-related liabilities, possible errors or failures in the performance of the Company's software, the recruitment and retention of key personnel, risks related to third party suppliers, failure of the parties to achieve the intended benefits, and failure to reach the intended synergies. Additional discussion of these and other factors affecting the Company's business is contained in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes in future operating results, financial condition or business over time. |
