Siemens Healthcare Testifies on Healthcare Reform and Building a Healthier America

Siemens Healthcare Testifies on Healthcare Reform and Building a Healthier
America

WASHINGTON, June 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Siemens Healthcare
(www.siemens.com/healthcare) today announced that Thomas Miller, Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) for the Workflow & Solutions Division, Siemens
Healthcare, testified before the Health Subcommittee, Committee on Energy and
Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives on the need for healthcare reform.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO )

During the hearing, "Comprehensive Health Reform Discussion Draft, Day 2," Mr.
Miller testified on ways to improve the quality of healthcare delivery while
reducing its overall costs. He noted that there is undeniable evidence that
medical imaging finds disease earlier, renders some invasive procedures
obsolete, and saves lives. The medical imaging industry has worked hard to
generate savings and efficiencies by developing physician-driven
appropriateness guidelines that will ensure appropriate and effective use of
diagnostic technologies, while assuring every patient has access.

"The evidence that medical imaging finds disease earlier, renders some
invasive procedures obsolete, and saves lives, is irrefutable," said Thomas
Miller, CEO, Workflow & Solutions Division, Siemens Healthcare. "Through
medical imaging, we gain tremendous knowledge about disease. We can detect it
earlier, intervene sooner and, therefore, achieve better outcomes. That is
the solution to our healthcare crisis. And, diagnostic imaging, with its
insight into the human body - is the key."

Mr. Miller presented to the Committee the facts about medical imaging:
1. Diagnostic technologies support more cost-effective care by enabling
earlier, faster and more accurate diagnosis, eliminating the need for
expensive and invasive surgeries and inappropriate therapies, reducing
hospital admissions, and, in many cases, avoiding costs of long-term
chronic conditions.
2. The growth in medical imaging can be attributed to its transformational
effect on medicine for almost every facet of every disease. Physicians
know that medical imaging is simply the best tool they have to diagnose
disease with confidence. And, the great majority of physicians have
one
overriding interest: to achieve the best possible outcomes for their
patients.
3. The best means to reduce costs and overuse is by creating a more
efficient healthcare system through Healthcare Information Technology
and
to manage medical imaging utilization through physician-driven
appropriateness guidelines.

"Advanced diagnostic imaging technologies don't just improve health - they
save lives. Simply ask any woman whose mammogram detected breast cancer in
its earliest stages to make her a survivor. Ask anyone whose Coronary CT
Angiography found blocked arteries before he/she suffered a catastrophic - or
fatal - heart attack," noted Miller.

Siemens Healthcare is a global supplier of medical and healthcare information
technology. In the USA, there are over 18,000 employees working in healthcare
and over 69,000 across all Siemens companies.

Mr. Miller's written testimony can be accessed at the Siemens Healthcare Press
Room:
http://www.usa.siemens.com/HealthCareReformTomMiller

The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest suppliers to the
healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions provider with
core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic
technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including information
technology and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics
acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare is the first integrated healthcare company,
bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare
information technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support
services. Siemens Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire continuum of
care - from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care.
Additionally, Siemens Healthcare is the global market leader in innovative
hearing instruments. The company employs around 49,000 people worldwide and
operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year 2008 (Sept. 30), Siemens
Healthcare reported sales of Euro 11.2 billion, orders of Euro 11.8 billion,
and Sector profit of Euro 1.2 billion. Further information can be found by
visiting http://www.siemens.com/healthcare.

SOURCE Siemens Healthcare

Lance Longwell, Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., +1-610-448-1473,
lance.longwell@siemens.com