Sisters of Providence Health System Hospital Signs with ibex Healthdata Systems to Provide ibex PulseCheck Emergency Department Patient Tracking System

Business Wire, June 28, 2001

Healthcare/Business Editors

ROSEMONT, Ill.--(BW HealthWire)--June 28, 2001

ibex Healthdata Systems, Inc., of Rosemont, IL, the premier provider of innovative Web browser-based emergency department solutions to the healthcare industry, today announced that Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, selected ibex PulseCheck(R) Emergency Department Information System to integrate and streamline medical and administrative information workflow in its Emergency Department.

Nearly 55,000 patients are treated annually in the Emergency Department (ED) at 341-bed Providence Alaska Medical Center. The hospital is part of the 20-hospital Sisters of Providence Health System, headquartered in Seattle, and is also a member of VHA, an alliance of 2,200 community-owned healthcare organizations and affiliated physicians. Physicians and hospital administrators were looking for a cost-effective method to streamline processes in the ED, to improve the quality of patient documentation, and provide clinicians with better tools to deliver the highest level of patient care. The Emergency Department conducted an extensive search before choosing ibex PulseCheck(R).

"We are very pleased to add Providence Alaska Medical Center to the growing list of quality institutions using ibex PulseCheck(R)," said ibex President and CEO Mark Crockett, M.D. "Patients will experience shorter waiting times in the Emergency Department and benefit from faster access to test results, and medical and administrative personnel will have better and faster access to information. That will result in having more time to spend administering to patients' medical needs," states Dr. Crockett.

"We were impressed with ibex PulseCheck(R) for its adaptability to future modifications and capacity for customization," said David Ingraham, MD, Medical Director of the Emergency Department at Providence Alaska Medical Center. "The system will create a more accurate, retrievable and legible medical record that can be accessed quickly."

"A key advantage of the ibex PulseCheck(R) system is the seamless interface between the medical and administrative documentation, so that the same information does not have to be typed over and over again," said Dr. Crockett. "This not only saves time, but it also helps avoid mistakes that can arise when data is entered numerous times."

Providence Alaska Medical Center joins a growing list of nearly 30 institutions that use the ibex PulseCheck(R) system, including academic hospitals, small community hospitals and multi-site institutions.

ibex Healthdata Systems, Inc., is an approved business partner with VHA Inc. The VHA alliance comprises 26 percent of the nation's community-owned hospitals, including Providence Alaska Medical Center.