GE Centricity HIE Connects Vermont Patients, Providers

VITL Summit 2009 Interoperability Showcase Demonstrates Success of Linking
Electronic Health Records to Share Clinical Data, Ensuring Continuity of Care
using ARRA standards
BARRINGTON, Ill.--(Business Wire)--
GE Healthcare, a leading provider of healthcare information technology, today
announced that its Centricity Health Information Exchange solution (HIE)
participated in the Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL) second
annual Interoperability Showcase. VITL is a not-for-profit organization that is
facilitating the implementation of electronic medical records (EMR) systems
using the GE Centricity HIE in Vermont.

An HIE aims to enable care providers to securely share health information across
local, regional, and eventually, national health networks. VITL demonstrated how
eight different vendor EMRs could feed data into the GE Centricity HIE, enabling
various healthcare providers to view and share radiology and lab results,
medication histories and other critical patient data. The showcase included two
clinical scenarios to illustrate how the GE Centricity HIE can facilitate the
sharing of clinical data across the continuum of care to help clinicians make
more informed decisions. The scenarios tracked a patient`s clinical data from
primary care, specialist and emergency department visits through hospital
discharge.

This capability was made possible through VITL`s and GE's adherence to
Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) framework and Healthcare Information
Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) Capability Specifications recommended for
ARRA adoption. "With one hour and zero preparation time, we`re able to take
seven EMRs out of the box and have them sharing information on an HIE they`d
never connected to before. That`s only possible because we`ve adopted these
standards and our EMRs are certified by the Certification Commission for
Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT)," said GE Healthcare`s Charles
Parisot, member of the HITSP board.

"The power of document sharing through (XDS), the use of harmonized (CDA)
document content, among other specifications are delivering on their promise and
making VITL capable of quick adaptation to changing health IT requirements."

"There is, perhaps, no tool more valuable to a state`s healthcare system than a
well-run health information exchange network, facilitating real-time clinical
data exchange through a standardized interface," said VITL President and CEO
David Cochran, MD. "The VITL Summit 2009 showcased what we believe is a national
best practice model that leverages the HITSP interoperability specifications to
enable a `plug and play` capability that simplifies implementation of healthcare
IT for our stakeholders by reducing installation time and cost."

Recently, the Health and Human Services Department announced that $564 million
in federal stimulus funding has been designated for the establishment and
promotion of state health information exchanges and to help build the Nationwide
Health Information Network.

Physicians participating in the Vermont Blueprint for Health initiative, which
provides a web-based chronic care patient information system at no cost to
healthcare providers, can analyze patient data in a secure, shared registry that
facilitates collaboration with other providers in their community. This allows
healthcare practitioners to better track patient progress and more effectively
manage the health of their patient populations. GE has been providing
standards-based HIE services to support the Vermont Blueprint for Health and
other VITL HIE use cases since 2007.

"VITL deserves great credit for its vision and action in developing a statewide
HIE and for demonstrating how successful public-private partnership can
accelerate value realization from an HIE infrastructure. VITL's initiative is an
essential building block for a national HIE as outlined in President Obama`s
plan for healthcare reform," said Earl Jones, vice president and general
manager, GE Healthcare IT.

ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE:

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that
are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging
and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems,
drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance
improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver
better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we
partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change
necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on
our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs,
increasing access and improving quality and efficiency around the world.
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of
General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than
46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients
in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our
website at www.gehealthcare.com.

ABOUT VERMONT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEADERS, INC.:

Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization that operates as a public-private partnership. VITL`s mission is to
collaborate with all stakeholders to expand the use of secure health information
technology to improve the quality and efficiency of Vermont`s health care
system.

GE Healthcare IT
Corey Miller, 414-469-5499
corey.miller@ge.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009