Skyscape and Elsevier Partner to Deliver Trusted Medical References on Handheld Computers

Business Wire,  Nov 4, 2003  

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Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers/High-Tech Writers

HUDSON, Mass. and PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 2003

Expanded Strategic Partnership Brings Elsevier's Most Popular References to PDAs to Improve Patient Care and Aid Medical Decision-Making.

Skyscape, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise-wide mobile medical reference solutions and Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of medical information products, today announced an expanded partnership that brings electronic "powered by Skyscape" versions of Elsevier's most popular medical and nursing references to the handheld computer to improve patient care and aid medical decision-making.

The partnership with Skyscape expands access to Elsevier's portfolio of leading reference titles to hundreds of thousands of health professionals who use handheld devices. "Our long history within the medical publishing community, commitment to innovation and continuous growth and expansion of electronic offerings are helping to support the daily needs of healthcare students and professionals," says Mary Ging, executive vice president, sales and marketing for Elsevier. "We are very pleased to offer our premium titles on the Skyscape platform as it provides an exciting new way for our customers to access our best medical reference titles."

"Having these leading references available for the PDA is just the beginning of a new evolution of medical education," states David Carbone, MD, PhD, Vanderbilt-Ingram Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Combined with reference databases, and other emerging clinical information tools, we will be able to create completely new ways of learning medicine and managing patients."

Giving Medical Professionals Access to the Information They Require

Skyscape continues to successfully provide medical practitioners worldwide with a comprehensive PDA knowledgebase to aid in medical decision making. In the first wave, Skyscape will introduce some of the most popular Elsevier references such as The Harriet Lane Handbook, The Osler Medical Handbook, Pocket Essentials of Clinical Medicine, Pain Management Secrets, Ferri's Clinical Advisor, and Mosby's Medical Drug Reference. Additional Elsevier references will regularly be made available over the next few years.

"Elsevier has built an outstanding reputation by providing the best references to medical professionals," said RJ Mathew, vice president marketing and business development for Skyscape. "This is a significant relationship for Skyscape and clearly demonstrates that the world's leading publishers recognize the value of Skyscape's mobile platform for meeting the information and decision-making needs of medical professionals."

Research has shown that the ability to capture and retrieve information at the point of care can decrease the time it takes to deliver care in half and can significantly reduce errors in prescriptions and other areas. Skyscape's ART(TM) technology platform allows information to be quickly translated and automatically cross-linked to other powered-by Skyscape references in context to support the decision-making process of mobile professionals. With this functionality, Skyscape brings critical information to more than 225,000 medical professionals in a context they can use--reducing the time medical professionals need to spend consulting information and enabling rapid access to the latest disease, drug and drug interaction information.

"I use my PDA with The Harriet Lane Handbook, Ferri's Practical Guide to the Care of the Medical Patient and many other Skyscape-powered references upwards of two dozen times per day for a variety of uses -- to teach students and residents, diagnose illnesses, determine treatment plans, prescribe medication, determine drug interactions, calculate dosages, and perform other decision-making tasks involved with quality patient care regardless of location," said R. Eugene Bailey, M.D., Assistant Professor, Center for Evidence-Based Practice, Department of Family Medicine, SUNY Upstate Medical University.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, the company publishes more than 1,800 journals and 2,200 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect and MD Consult, bibliographic databases, online reference works and subject specific portals.

Elsevier is a global company headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a world-leading publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).