King Saud University signs a strategic agreement with Cerner for two major hospitals in Saudi Arabia

The contract was executed between KSU and Saudi Health Information Systems (SHIS), which is a joint venture between Riyadh Valley Company, Zamil Group, and Cerner, that was created to focus on EHR programs within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is Cerner Middle East's first contract in the joint venture partnership established in 2011.

Cerner Millennium solutions will automate clinical processes and provide instant access to clinical information and integrated workflow through an EHR. The solutions digitize registration and scheduling, laboratory, pharmacy, physician and nursing documentation, emergency, surgery, data warehousing and clinical supply chain. Clinicians at the academic hospitals will also be able to document care and place medication and other orders directly in the EHR.

During the kick-off of the system review session launched by Mubarak Al-Faran, Dean of the College of Medicine at King Saud University, an internal name for Cerner Millennium called eSiHi, or Electronic System for Integrated Health Information was announced. All clinicians and staff will refer to the new name when dealing with the new system, which will consolidate, streamline and standardize all processes and tools to improve the quality of information available to clinicians.

Over a period of 12-18 months, both academic hospitals will integrate approximately 30 Cerner solutions with its EHR serving as the foundation of the health technology implementation.

Implementing Cerner solutions will benefit the academic hospitals' patients in a number of ways including:

• Providing a clinical record for all patients: Whether an individual is treated in the ambulatory setting or inpatient setting at home, the information will be captured and stored in the individual's lifetime clinical record.
• Facilitating a high standard of quality care: The use of standardized treatment guidelines promotes evidence-based, effective and consistent care for every patient while enabling quality improvement and operational efficiency.
• Reducing the potential for transcription errors: Illegible, handwritten orders and transcription errors are reduced through the use of electronic order entry.
• Improving access to information: Clinicians have immediate access to a unified patient EHR that has up-to-the-minute information about the patient including past visits, medical test results and medical devices connected directly to the EHR.

"Cerner is thrilled to be working with our SHIS partners to deliver the first academic system under this new arrangement. We are excited to be working with the excellent hospitals under KSU's leadership and look forward to working with them towards HIMSS certification," said Greg White, vice president and managing director, Cerner Middle East and Africa.