Neoforma and University of Chicago's Center for Advanced Medicine Partner to Revolutionize Medical Facility Planning

Business Wire, Oct 5, 1998

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Oct. 5, 1998--

Collaboration Transports Medical Community Through

State-of-the-Art Planning Facility

Neoforma, Inc., the healthcare business community for medical professionals around the world, and University of Chicago's Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine (CAM), one of the world's premiere ambulatory care facilities, today announced a unique collaboration that brings the best practices in medical facility design and planning to the healthcare community via the Internet.

Through this partnership, users of Neoforma's Web site, neoforma.com, can navigate through 1,000 rooms of CAM's state-of-the-art facility, using CAM's layout as a starting point for developing their own facility at a fraction of the time and cost.

Due to CAM's international reputation and extensive training program in medical facility management and planning, Neoforma selected this institution as the first facility to be fully documented on the Web. A combination of immersive imaging technology and a database of more than 13,000 medical equipment manufacturers allows users to tour each room online, call up an index of products in each room and research vendors for more than 7,800 product categories. Users can also select a product or product category and find every room in the facility in which the product is used.

"Our collaboration with Neoforma offers hospital planners from around the world an invaluable resource for researching how to model their medical facility," said Allyson Hansen, administrator, University of Chicago's Center for Advanced Medicine. "Neoforma's site not only supports CAM's educational mission but also reflects our commitment to patient-centered care by allowing other hospitals to view a facility designed with the patient's best interest in mind. If this site had been available when we designed CAM, we would have visited it frequently to learn about the best practices for constructing our facility."

CAM's layout emphasizes patient convenience, with a cluster clinics concept that closely positions each clinic next to related diagnostic and treatment services so that patients can receive care for all related medical conditions in the same building and usually on the same floor. Neoforma users viewing CAM's facility will find that the Center's spacious, open design lends efficiency to departments such as radiation oncology, radiology and surgery -- all of which have significant diagnostic and treatment requirements.

"The medical industry is in dire need of new technologies and methods to improve facility planning," said Jeff Kleck, CEO and co-founder of Neoforma. "Through our partnership with the Center for Advanced Medicine, we can help medical institutions deliver quality care to patients based on the comprehensive visual information available on Neoforma's site. This technology allows a single member of the planning team to accomplish in one Web session what has historically taken months of travelling and expense by a team of professionals."

By delivering three-dimensional panoramic views of the entire CAM facility, including images of every department, room, hallway and closet, Neoforma ultimately helps speed the planning process. Users in more than 120 countries already visit neoforma.com to view CAM's carefully planned, patient-focused facility and use this information, along with floor plans available on the site, to build their own new or refurbished facility.

Additionally, users can furnish their facility through Neoforma's healthcare community, which includes an online database that offers the world's largest selection of medical products and services. Because equipment listings at neoforma.com are not based on advertising or sponsorships, users will find a completely open, unbiased source of product information.

About University of Chicago's Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine

Staffed by more than 1,000 of the finest physicians and health care professionals in the country, the University of Chicago's Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine is designed and equipped to enable these experts to provide the most comprehensive health care available while addressing patient needs of privacy and convenience.

Comprehensive in its scope, the Center for Advanced Medicine houses the adult specialty clinics of the University of Chicago Hospitals as well as outpatient diagnostic and treatment facilities. A state-of-the-art resource, the facility brings all the knowledge and resources of the University of Chicago to the outpatient setting: clinical trials in virtually every medical area and more research supported by the National Institute of Health than any other place in the region foster the most significant advances in medical protocols.

About Neoforma

Founded in 1996, Neoforma creates a new form of accessing and delivering information to the healthcare business community, ultimately improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare worldwide. The company has built neoforma.com, the premier Internet business community where healthcare professionals from every corner of the world can share ideas, as well as review and assess products, services, news, careers and more.