- GE is Gold Sponsor of the event focused on advancing the best use of information and management systems for the betterment of healthcare
- Marks commitment of GE to partner in long-term healthcare IT investments in the Kingdom and the Middle East
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; May 29, 2011: GE Healthcare IT will showcase its advanced range of healthcare information and image exchange solutions at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference and Health IT Leadership Summit to be held from May 29 to 31, 2011 at the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh at Kingdom Center, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
GE Healthcare is the Gold Sponsor of the event, which focuses on advancing the best use of information and management systems for the betterment of healthcare, and marks its commitment to partner in the long-term healthcare IT investments in the Kingdom and the larger Middle East region.
HIMSS Conference & Health IT Leadership Summit is billed to host global leaders in healthcare IT who will share their experience in eHealth, information and communication technology (ICT) solutions, and their key learning from global initiatives to enhance healthcare delivery through the intelligent use of information technology.
A leading vendor of healthcare IT solutions, with a strong presence in the GCC region, GE Healthcare will focus on health information and image exchange solutions -- two emerging areas of interest and investment by Gulf countries -- at the event.
Wassim El-Mawas, eHealth Manager of GE Healthcare for EAGM (Eastern & African Growth Markets), said: "We see the Middle East healthcare IT investment focused on establishing systems and infrastructure that will need to be much better integrated to address today's needs to improve efficiency, access and quality.
In line with GE Healthymagination strategy, we are focused on developing and introducing eHealth solutions that connect and integrate Healthcare to: Enable Telemedicine to improve physician access, allow physicians and specialists to connect and collaborate and eliminate redundancies and duplications
El-Mawas added: "GE eHealth solutions allow viewing of patient images, diagnostic reports and any clinical documents from different isolated hospital information systems within a group of hospitals in a region or the entire country. In this way, we are creating a shared platform to exchange patient history and data and make it accessible to clinical stake holders to connect and collaborate."
GE's eHealth Solutions platforms support the secure exchange of patient data across all scenarios - between providers, an integrated delivery network or accountable care organization (ACO). The infrastructure is standards-based, fully scalable, and highly secure. Most recently, GE Healthcare IT announced an extension of its contract serving the 17 hospitals of Sweden's Västra Götaland region (VGR) through 2015 reiterating its global expertise in implementing regional eHealth solutions.
GE Healthcare IT's solutions support multiple Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) and Radiology Information Systems (RIS) from various companies accelerating provider adoption and enhancing transparency. By bringing about an extensive and extended network of healthcare expertise, patients can obtain inputs from remote specialists and allow their care teams to take second opinions effortlessly. Care providers are able to make the best care decisions when patient information is available when and where they need it.
With its bi-directional eHealth Image Exchange platform, GE is now integrating industry standards into its regional image sharing architecture. GE's data registry and repository (DRR) services use the XDS standard profile developed by the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise initiative (IHE). Authorized care team members can access patient data stored in the repository using any vendor's system that supports the XDS standard, which increases the ease of access for clinicians and enhances clinical collaboration.
In the USA, GE Healthcare has been implementing a comprehensive ehealth solution at Keystone Health Information Exchange (KeyHIE), a region of three million patients in Central Pennsylvania. The challenges of accessing critical patient information at the point of care, connecting patient encounters across a fragmented system, and increasing healthcare delivery efficiencies, are being addressed by implementing GE Healthcare's eHealth Information Exchange, including an IHE compliant document registry and repository with web-based clinical portal.
The results have been faster, providing more secure access to previously unavailable patient information in Emergency Departments, and secure access to discharge summaries, history and physical documents and radiology reports within the community. Additional benefits include improvements in the quality of care and care coordination through increased information flow and transparency.
With over 10,000 GE healthcare technologies serving nearly 90% of its hospitals, GE has a strong presence in the Kingdom. The company has been working closely with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to help build a sustainable healthcare model under healthymagination. GE has helped transform the operation rooms of eight MoH hospitals and six Nation Guard Health Affairs Departments through tools and methodologies that are all aimed to enhance operational efficiencies.
GE has been associated with Saudi Arabia for many decades. With more than 800 employees in the Kingdom, GE has expanded its presence through public-private partnerships and a strong footprint of facilities in service repair support and customer training centers in oil & gas, energy, water, aviation and healthcare, which serve the region.
HIMSS is the international healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems contributions to ensuring quality patient care.
Kelly Home
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller
kelly.home@bm.com
+971 4 4507 600
Nivine William
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller
nivine.william@bm.com
+971 4 4507 600
Caroline Wehbeh
GE Communications Leader, North Africa
caroline.wehbeh@ge.com
+971 4 429 6318