RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG:One of Europe's biggest e-health projects is launched

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JOINT PRESS RELEASE RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG and Siemens AG Medical Solutions introduce intra-facilityelectronic patient file (WebEPA)One of Europe’s biggest e-health projects is launched Bad Neustadt a. d. S. / Erlangen, 18 September 2007 RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG will link up all its facilities, currently numbering 46,using a web-based electronic patient file (WebEPA) and will launch aweb-based electronic patient file (WebEPA). In future the aim of thissystem is to benefit the more than 1 million patients the Group treats eachyear with provably higher treatment quality. Siemens Medical Solutions,working together with Soarian Integrated Care (Soarian IC), will providethe software for the WebEPA. This is what is provided for in the agreementsigned today in Bad Neustadt a. d. S. between Wolfgang Pföhler, Chairman ofthe Board of Management of RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG, and Prof. Dr. Erich R.Reinhardt, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and President ofSiemens Medical Solutions. With the WebEPA – one of the biggest e-healthprojects on the European health market – both partners underscore theirpioneering role in integrated healthcare delivery that is wholly orientedto the needs of patients.The WebEPA is a jointly developed electronic platform allowing for medicaldata to be exchanged between institutions and facilities within thehealthcare system Germany-wide. It will enable communication between thevarious clinical documentation, hospital information, image storage anddoctor’s practice systems at a total of 46 hospitals and the respectivemedical care centres (MVZs) of the RHÖN-KLINIKUM Group. With the patient’sconsent, it will thus be possible for information such as admissions,discharge letters and findings to be exchanged between those doctorsinvolved in that patient’s treatment. The roll-out the WebEPA throughoutthe Group comes after its successful testing in a pilot project atHerzzentrum Leipzig (University Hospital) and ParkkrankenhausLeipzig-Südost – both facilities of RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG. After that anextension of the co-operation to the outpatient area, in particularcommunity-based doctors, is planned.The software components of the WebEPA developed by Siemens, based onSoarian IC, include reports, images and medical data relating to findings,a module for consultations among physicians as well as what is referred toas a master patient index (MPI) allowing clear identification of patientsbeyond a facility’s boundaries. The contractual parties see this jointfurther development of the WebEPA as the opportunity to establish a marketstandard for an interoperable structure spanning the various healthcaresectors allowing for process-oriented co-operation and co-productions ofservice partnerships in the fast-changing healthcare system.With this project Siemens will further expand its leading position on theEuropean e-health sector. Here, Siemens expertise ranges from regional tonational networking of the providers involved. One current example comesfrom France, where Siemens implemented some 5,000 electronic patient filesin the entire region of Limousin which are already being used there as partof a pilot project – in both the outpatient and inpatient areas. And inScotland a screening programme for the early detection of diabeticretinopathy with 213,000 registered patients has been under way for over ayear. In Germany, Siemens will conclude framework agreements for connectors(interfaces between existing information systems and central telematicservices) and lead the market for these in the field tests to be launchedin the spring.RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG has moreover joined together with other hospitals, publicfacilities and the Fraunhofer Institute of Software and Systems Engineering(ISST) as part of the electronic case file (eFA) project to form an openconsortium, and has chosen Siemens as its industrial partner. Siemens andRHÖN-KLINIKUM are jointly working on the specification for the eFA. Infuture the WebEPA will pool all data of a treatment case based on the eFAstandard, thus giving the treating physicians a secure means of exchangingdata both between the different healthcare sectors and hospitals. Thecontractual parties expect the eFA to make an important contributiontowards optimising patient care as part of the Germany-wide communicationplatform – the telematic infrastructure – being planned by the GermanFederal Ministry of Health.'The WebEPA will be key to a big leap forward in the quality of patientcare. It pools a patient's medically relevant information from theintegrated providers, thus helping the treating doctors with importantdiagnosis and therapy decisions. That will also cut costs in healthcare.Today we have thus taken another big step towards realising our corporatevision of making good medicine affordable to all', Wolfgang Pföhler said.'Thanks to our comprehensive healthcare IT solution, we are enablingprocesses to be optimised across sectors and for integrated and efficienttreatment procedures to be developed between the various providers in thehealthcare system – all with a view to making patients the focus ofinterest in treatments', explained Prof. Dr. Erich R. Reinhardt. This ismade possible by Siemens combined know-how and experience as the world’sfirst integrated diagnostics company in the fields of imaging diagnosticsand therapy, lab medicine and clinical information systems. The objectiveis to enhance the quality of medical care whilst reducing costs.RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG is a leading private hospital service provider and iscommitted to the highest standards of patient-oriented care combining thevery best quality of service with good value. Our corporate aim and purposeis to build and operate hospitals, primarily acute hospitals at all carelevels. RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG we went public in 1989, thus becoming the firstlisted hospital group in Germany. In financial year 2006 the Groupgenerated revenues of nearly 2 billion euros and a net profit of 108million euros. RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG shares the values and goals of the Germanhealthcare system whose efficiency and benefits it wishes to uphold forpatients also in future based on the principle of 'rationalisation beforerationing'. Currently the Group has 46 hospitals (44 acute/2 in rehabsector) at 35 locations counting some 15,000 beds and places. The Groupcurrently employs a staff of more than 31,000. More information can befound under: www.rhoen-klinikum-ag.com.Siemens Medical Solutions is one of the largest suppliers to the healthcareindustry in the world. The division offers innovative products andend-to-end solutions as well as a broad range of services and consulting.This is rounded off by imaging systems for diagnosis and therapy, molecularmedicine and audiology, as well as IT solutions. The latest acquisitions inthe field of in vitro lab diagnostics – such as Diagnostic ProductsCorporation and Bayer Diagnostics – have paved the way for Siemens tobecome the world’s first integrated diagnostics company. Thanks to allthese solutions, Siemens Medical Solutions enables its customers to achievevisible results both in the clinical and administrative areas – known as'proven outcomes'. Siemens innovations help optimise workflows inhospitals, medical practices and in the area of integrated care, thusraising efficiency within the healthcare system. Employing over 41,000people worldwide and operating in over 130 countries, Siemens MedicalSolutions generated sales of € 8.23 billion and an order intake of € 9.33billion for fiscal 2006 (Sept. 30), according to US GAAP. The divisionalresult was € 1.06 billion. More information can be found under:http://www.siemens.com/medical.________________For RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG Schlossplatz 1 D-97616 Bad Neustadt a.d. Saale Sallwey & Partner Brigitte Sallwey Telemannstr. 18 D-60322 FrankfurtTel.: 069-97 203 628____________________________ Siemens AG Medical SolutionsHenkestraße 127D-91052 ErlangenAxel WieczorekLeiter Public Relationsa.wieczorek@siemens.comTel.: 09131-84 8335Brigitte SallweySallwey & Partner Telemannstr. 18 D-60322 FrankfurtTel.: 069-97 203 62818.09.2007 Financial News transmitted by DGAP
 Language: EnglishIssuer: RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG Schlossplatz 1 97616 Bad Neustadt a.d.Saale DeutschlandPhone: +49 (0)9771 - 65-0Fax: +49 (0)9771 - 97 467E-mail: fire.ir@rhoen-klinikum-ag.comInternet: www.rhoen-klinikum-ag.comISIN: DE0007042301WKN: 704230Indices: MDAXListed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), München; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service