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Siemens MedStage Telemedicine Solution Enables Remote Ophthalmic and Disease Management Services
Methodist Hospital Connects Patients and Physicians From Any Location
MALVERN, Pa., April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Siemens Medical Solutions
announced today that Methodist Hospital Division of Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa., is the first U.S. healthcare
enterprise to implement MedStage(TM), Siemens telemedicine solution platform
for comprehensive disease management and tele-ophthalmology, scheduled for
general availability in the third quarter of 2004. Given the U.S.
government's recent passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement,
and Modernization Act of 2003 and its focus on improving disease management
benefits for seniors, the introduction of MedStage in the U.S. signifies an
important advancement for healthcare.
Diabetic patients served by Methodist Hospital will benefit from remote
diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma services enabled by MedStage and operated by
Interactive Medicine Inc., an ophthalmologic medical service provider and an
organization that Siemens has selected to cooperate with on this and future
projects. Accessible via the Internet, MedStage optimizes the ophthalmic
workflow and the quality of communication by linking physicians and their
medical devices with experts at any location. Patients' medical findings are
gathered and documented online, together with physician comments,
recommendations and messages. MedStage then distributes this information in
an electronic health record accessible by the appropriate care providers. The
system automatically informs providers about pending tasks, coordinates
appointments, and manages necessary documentation from patient registration
and care planning to treatment tracking and quality management -- all of which
means that physicians can monitor and optimize patient treatment progress
electronically, improving workflow and patient care processes.
MedStage enables Methodist Hospital to incorporate ophthalmic evaluation
services into its portfolio, thereby complementing existing programs without
recruiting specialists. Methodist's two eye cameras capture the retinal
images, which are stored in the MedStage application. Using an ophthalmic
image viewer, physicians remotely capture and grade patients' images and then
conveniently distribute results to the patient's primary care or specialist
physicians utilizing the MedStage platform.
"MedStage offers access to ophthalmic care for a larger base of patients
with increased convenience and higher quality," said Robert C. Sergott, MD,
director of ophthalmologic care at Methodist. "With the MedStage application,
each patient receives state-of-the-art ophthalmic services quickly and
accurately, while improving workflow and providing significant cost savings to
Methodist and our patients. The program operates within the framework of the
Methodist medical community, and all current referral patterns and
relationships are maintained. We want the patients to have an easy entry
point into the complex world of ophthalmology. Our goal is to protect the
vision of all patients at the Bove Center from the devastating complications
of diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, two of the leading causes of blindness
in America. Every patient should and must be evaluated. With MedStage and
the cooperation of all the physicians at Methodist, we are striving to achieve
100 percent compliance for annual examinations for diabetic patients in their
local medical community."
The implementation of MedStage at Methodist demonstrates the healthcare
industry's progress in tele-medicine and movement toward even more
comprehensive disease management applications. While the tele-screening
offering is Methodist's entree into disease management, the fuller MedStage
platform planned for release in late 2004 provides a full suite of disease
management solutions.
"Under the new Medicare prescription drug program, providers will receive
reimbursements for quality enhancements and error reductions," said Jon
Zimmerman, vice president, Soarian Health Connections, Siemens Medical
Solutions. "As a result, more institutions will look to implement disease
management services. Clearly, solutions like MedStage are critical to the
future of healthcare.
"These technologies help providers deliver better care through optimal
coordination and oversight, with information that is accessible anywhere,
anytime."
MedStage's unique capabilities have been proven in a number of successful
projects in Europe including tele-ophthalmology, home-monitoring and disease
management applications. These include a United Kingdom National Health
Service supported project that allowed specialists in different countries to
provide expertise to community screening centers thereby efficiently improving
patient care delivery for more than 1,000 patients. During the course of the
project, care providers successfully demonstrated that patient care delivery
could be improved while simultaneously reducing related costs.
About Methodist Hospital Division of
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Located in the heart of South Philadelphia, the Methodist Hospital
Division of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, a member of the Jefferson
Health System, offers a wide variety of health-care and medical services to
the community. Patients from all over the area can receive a full range of
services including emergency care, cardiac care and rehabilitation, diagnostic
imaging services, cancer care and radiation therapy, expert shoulder and elbow
care, diabetes treatment, women's health specialties and more. Visit
http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/methodist for more information.
About Interactive Medicine
Interactive Medicine, Inc. (IMI), a pioneer in telemedicine applications,
has been providing innovative tele-health solutions to meet the needs of
healthcare providers and facilities since 1996. Using either the company's
proprietary software, or, identifying and affiliating with global partners IMI
supplies clinical, management and consulting support to ensure an effective
and comprehensive implementation of the unique and dynamic tele-health needs
of its clients. IMI's telemedicine approach was created to provide
physicians, patients and other healthcare professionals with cost sensitive
state-of-the-art clinical capabilities; greater collaboration and educational
opportunities; and, easy Internet connectivity. For more information about
IMI, please visit http://www.intemed.com.
About Siemens
Siemens Medical Solutions of Siemens AG (NYSE: SI), with headquarters in
Malvern, Pennsylvania and Erlangen, Germany, is one of the largest suppliers
to the healthcare industry in the world. The company is known for bringing
together innovative medical technologies, healthcare information systems,
management consulting, and support services, to help customers achieve
tangible, sustainable, clinical and financial outcomes. Employing
approximately 31,000 people worldwide and operating in more than 120
countries, Siemens Medical Solutions reported sales of 7.4 billion EUR, orders
of 7.8 billion EUR and group profit of 1.1 billion EUR for fiscal 2003. More
information can be obtained by visiting http://www.usa.siemens.com/medical.
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Contact:
Steve Rogers, President & CEO
(410) 415-5359
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