GE MEDICAL SYSTEMS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES CENTRICITY™ INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR CARDIOLOGY
“Digital cockpit” to provide cardiologists with electronic medical record
for enhanced productivity
ATLANTA (March 17, 2002) – Cardiologists will soon be able to instantly access patients’ complete cardiovascular information through a single user interface. GE is announcing a breakthrough information system designed to help clinicians make faster and better-informed decisions by delivering comprehensive patient data electronically at one workstation.
Centricity Cardiology™
is being announced by GE Medical Systems Information Technologies. The system will pull together disparate pieces of patient data previously accessible only through separate workstations, databases or paper charts within the hospital.
Now, records that once could take hours to assemble will be retrievable in a few keystrokes. Through a single “digital cockpit,” clinicians will be able to retrieve all patient cardiovascular data, including EKG waveforms, echo and cath images, and other cardiovascular procedures. Also available at physicians’ fingertips will be patients’
prior reports, related exams, demographics, technologists' notes, hospital administrative records and the patient's cardiovascular electronic medical record. This will allow clinicians to immediately review and analyze information, make a diagnosis, and generate reports—all at a single point. Further, the system will store all waveforms, images and data in a central archive server for, access anytime, from anywhere. The results will be increased efficiency and productivity.
GE’s Centricity Cardiology, which will be announced at the American College of Cardiology conference March 17-20 in Atlanta, is part of the Centricity™
Enterprise clinical information system, GE’s solution to improving clinical workflow throughout a healthcare facility by integrating patient information at every step of the hospital visit into a single electronic medical record.
“The announcement of this advanced cardiology information system is designed to meet the growing needs for cardiac care in this country and around the world,” said Greg Lucier, president and CEO of GE Medical Systems Information Technologies. “This is especially important as facilities move toward specialized medicine and the development of specialty care facilities. It’s also reflective of the significant impact heart disease has on our population today, as it tops our nation’s leading cause of death.”
According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease affects more than 61 million Americans every year. As the disease continues to pose a serious health threat, and as more patients enter hospitals and specialty facilities, cardiac clinicians will be challenged to provide the best care possible even as their caseloads increases.
“Cardiologists, like so many of today’s healthcare providers, must make tough decisions under extreme time constraints and cost pressures, amid worsening staff shortages,” said Mike Genau, vice president of cardiology systems at GE Medical Systems Information Technologies.
“By making complete patient information available immediately, GE Centricity Cardiology will enable clinicians to make more immediate and confident decisions. Clinicians will be able to focus on delivering care, not gathering and managing data.”
The benefits of GE’s Centricity Cardiology have been demonstrated by healthcare providers who already have implemented components of the system. For example, the Staten Island University Hospital has experienced improved workflow and efficiency since installing a prior release of GE’s cardiovascular information system. “Since implementation of the earlier technology in 2000, cardiologists have seen a dramatic reduction in reporting time,” said James V. Malpeso, M.D., FACC, FSCAI, medical director of cardiac catheterization and intervention at Staten Island University Hospital. “Reports that once took days to generate now can be ready in minutes.
This gives us more time for patient care. And, the speed at which we can now access and report data has resulted in a boost in productivity and cost-savings. Additionally, we believe patients have greater confidence in clinicians when they know their treatment decisions are based on the most comprehensive data available.”
According to Genau, Centricity will be a major component in the development of the nation’s first all-digital heart hospital, The Indiana Heart Hospital. On January 24, 2002, GE announced its partnership with the “hospital of the future” to create a paperless, filmless and wireless environment.
“When we were looking for a partner, we turned to GE, in large part, because of the Centricity Cardiology system, said Michael C. Venturini, M.D., cardiologist and chief medical officer of The Indiana Heart Hospital. "It will allow us to review reports and actual images of echocardiograms, EKGs and cardiac catheterization films. It will help make all of the hospital’s cardiologists better physicians.”
“We were also attracted by the system’s ability to access GE Innovaä 2000 images, considered the industry gold standard, through Centricity Cardiology Image Management,” added Venturini. “Looking to the future, the Centricity system will be fully scaleable which will accommodate our needs as we grow and allow us to network and manage up to thousands of patients.”
About GE Medical Systems Information Technologies
GE Medical Systems Information Technologies provides hospitals and healthcare systems with advanced software and technologies to improve their clinical performance. The Company’s expertise spans the areas of cardiology, patient monitoring, image management, clinical communications, clinical information systems and Six Sigma-based management tools to enable a real-time, integrated electronic medical record. GE Medical Systems Information Technologies is a business of GE Medical Systems, an $8 billion global leader in medical imaging and technology. Additional information about GE Medical Systems can be found at gemedicalsystems.com.
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