IBM urges healthcare institutions to embrace 'Patient-Centric Healthcare'

IBM remains at the forefront of improving how healthcare organizations respond to new challenges and deliver efficient, high quality care. The company outlined its patient-centric healthcare approach at an invitation-only healthcare industry seminar and strategies for institutions.

'Putting the patient at the center of the healthcare ecosystem is really the key to continuing improvement in levels of care,' said Matej Adam, Healthcare Industry Leader, IBM Central and Eastern Europe.

'Healthcare institutions are coming under increasing pressure worldwide to drive both levels of care upwards and costs downwards: a challenge that requires fundamental changes across many parts of the healthcare system. The patient-centric healthcare model puts the patient in charge of his or her well-being by defining treatment and operational policies that center around the individual. IBM technology now makes this approach practical and allows institutions to realize business efficiencies as well as improving levels of patient care.'

IBM seminar took place on the first day of Arab Health 2007 lead by IBM executives, Henrik Hojlund SBS Leader - North East Europe and Timothy G.Dion, Business Solution Professional.

The first topic discussed 'Patient Centric E-health', a new approach which optimizes the healthcare system to focus on the patient experience and outcomes for better health and well-being. This new cost effective strategy empowers patients, relatives and health professionals through better access to information enables proactive measurements, more effective treatment and care options based on relevant data. IBM offers its expertise and advanced technology in this domain and provides solutions in three broad categories: clinical and business optimization, health and wellness management, and patient-centric networks.

The second topic was 'Clinical Process Optimization', discussed strategies for IT-enabling healthcare delivery processes and creating the e-hospital. Although investments made by healthcare organizations to implement new systems are often justified on their contribution to overall business objectives, such as lowered costs, increased revenue or improved quality of care, institutions often fail to realize these benefits. IBM recognizes the wide range of IT, policy and change management challenges that institutions face when implementing a new system and is well positioned to help institutions gain the full business value from their investments.

Healthlink an IBM Division, a leader in global business services healthcare which was acquired by IBM in 2005, specializes in helping healthcare institutions define and implement new systems, whilst ensuring that the organization derives business value. Healthlink, an IBM Division has completed more than 2500 hospital projects and was recently 'First in KLAS' in clinical implementations in an independent survey of Healthcare IT (HIT) vendors conducted by KLAS, a research and consulting firm that specializes in monitoring and measuring the performance of HIT vendors and professional service firms.

'Today's healthcare industry is at a critical juncture. The healthcare industry is under enormous pressure to better manage a consistently higher quality of clinical care, whilst reducing administrative costs and meeting tighter compliance and security mandates,' said Takreem El-Tohamy, general manager IBM Middle East, Egypt, and Pakistan. 'We are proud to be able to show how IBM can help institutions meet those challenges at what has become one of the most important healthcare events in the world, Arab Health.'

IBM is demonstrating some of its innovative solutions for the healthcare industry during Arab Health 2007 at booth CE09 outside exhibition hall 5.