Jersey Shore Hospital Upgrades Information System with State-of the-Art Technology
Jersey Shore Hospital and Susquehanna Health System sign agreement on new information system
JERSEY SHORE, PA, Wednesday, July 25, 2001 - The Jersey Shore Hospital (JSH) today made a significant investment in its information infrastructure and future by entering into a contract with Susquehanna Health System (SHS), Williamsport, to install and support a "state-of-the-art" management and clinical information system.
According to Jersey Shore Hospital sources, the new system will affect virtually all of the Hospital's functions and services and will be implemented in a phased approach over a one-year period. "Information is critical to every function in a successful business and organizations with exceptional "information" tools are usually at the head of their class," noted Lou Ditzel, President and CEO of JSH. "From clinical systems to financial and statistical applications, we are happy to be able to participate in this program with the Susquehanna Health System."
"Our Information Systems (IS) team evaluated new systems for over two years before we decided on the SHS proposal. We will gain the support of an extremely talented IS team at SHS and also benefit from an arrangement that reduces the cost of this effort by a significant amount over similar competitive systems we reviewed. SHS has a strong commitment to excellence and technology and we are looking forward to expanding these attributes to Jersey Shore Hospital," stated Ditzel. "Technology in health care and changing regulatory programs pose serious challenges to all hospitals, especially rural organizations."
JSH officials noted that the integration of information technology and communications and the clinical setting are strong attributes of the SHS program.
"This agreement will help us bring financial systems, reporting, regulatory compliance and clinical systems to the cutting edge," noted Mark O'Neill, Senior Vice President and CFO at JSH. "The new relationship will also allow us to make changes when necessary to meet new requirements."
Said Kirby O. Smith, president and chief executive officer of SHS, "I am pleased that Susquehanna Health System has been chosen to assist Jersey Shore Hospital with its financial and clinical information needs. This initiative is consistent with our mission to improve the health status of the communities we serve. By providing Jersey Shore Hospital with the tools to improve the speed at which important clinical information can be obtained, this initiative will help their employees and medical staff to better treat their patients. In addition, by sharing the cost of these extremely expensive computer systems, both Susquehanna Health System and Jersey Shore Hospital will save money, which can be used for other patient care related initiatives."
Added Pamela R. Wirth, vice president and CIO at SHS, "We look forward to bringing new information systems to the Jersey Shore Hospital and its community."
Through this joint agreement, the Jersey Shore Hospital is saving more than $500,000 in installation and operation costs. Complete implementation of the information system is scheduled for October.
|
