Abington Health System Selects Perioperative IT From Surgical Information Systems

ATLANTA, Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Surgical Information Systems ("SIS"), a leader in perioperative information systems, announced today that Abington Health has selected the SIS solution for perioperative care. Located in suburban Philadelphia, Abington Health consists of two hospitals--Abington Memorial and Lansdale Hospital.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080722/SISLOGO )

The SIS solution will support Abington's goals of optimizing operating room (OR) performance by implementing a single perioperative record that includes modules for:

• Surgery scheduling including pre-admission testing (PAT) and resource scheduling
• Nursing and anesthesia documentation
• Rules-based charging to accurately capture and bill for all charges
• Advanced analytics to support reporting and process improvement
• Patient tracking and communications including in-room displays and a family waiting view

"Abington Health is one of the finest patient care facilities in the country," said Ed Daihl, CEO of SIS, "and their selection of the SIS Solution to enhance patient care in the OR reflects the quality and value of our products and services. Known nationwide for patient care excellence, our ability to meet Abington's high standards was the key to our selection. It also underscores the importance of interoperability for improving communication and processes within the OR."

The SIS Solution for Abington incorporates the AORN SYNTEGRITY® Framework, providing clinical content that complements the SIS nursing documentation system with the Perioperative Nursing Data Set (PNDS) 3rd edition and standardized documentation fields that guide patient-centered care. The framework cross references to AORN's Perioperative Standards and Recommended Practices as well as accreditation, regulatory, and mandatory reporting requirements.

Abington Memorial Hospital was the first acute care hospital in the Philadelphia area to achieve Magnet designation, awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). One of the highest honors bestowed in nursing, the Magnet designation recognizes healthcare organizations for quality, patient care, nursing excellence, and innovations in professional nursing practice. Abington's Magnet designation reflects its commitment to quality and innovation and SIS with AORN SYNTEGRITY® will further assist Abington Health to maintain regulatory compliance and utilize AORN best practices.

"We required an integrated, high quality perioperative system to continue our leadership in patient care," said Diane Humbrecht, MSN, RN BC, Nurse Director of Informatics at Abington. "The SIS Solution improves access to patient information at the point of care and increases the efficiency of the OR. It gives us the ability to track important data from the OR; automate our patient tracking to improve accuracy and efficiency; and fully integrate information from the OR with our Allscripts enterprise record," said Humbrecht.

"The SIS Solution also helps Abington excel in providing pertinent information to regulatory bodies that monitor hospital quality and cost," said Daihl. "The use of easily visible and highly integrated patient data within the OR environment reduces costs and streamlines regulatory reporting."

About SIS
Surgical Information Systems ("SIS") provides software solutions that are uniquely designed to add value at every point of the perioperative process. Developed specifically for the complex surgical environment, all SIS solutions – including anesthesia – are architected on a single database and integrate easily with other hospital systems. SIS offers the only surgical scheduling system endorsed by the American Hospital Association (AHA), and a rules-based charging system that has been granted Peer Reviewed status by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). For more information visit our website, www.SISFirst.com.

About Abington Health

Abington Health is a not-for-profit, regional healthcare provider which serves the residents of Montgomery, Bucks and parts of Philadelphia counties. With longstanding roots in the community, Abington Health is comprised of two suburban hospitals: Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington and Lansdale Hospital in Hatfield Township. In addition to the two hospitals, Abington Health has convenient outpatient facilities, including Abington Health Center — Schilling Campus in Willow Grove, Abington Health Center — Warminster Campus in Bucks County and Abington Physicians at Montgomeryville in North Wales, that offer routine and sophisticated testing and diagnostic services. Together these facilities serve more than 42,000 inpatients, 131,000 emergency patients and well over 500,000 outpatient visits annually.

Abington Health employs over 6,000 employees, making the health system one of the largest employers in Montgomery County. Abington Health's medical staff consists of over 1,200 primary care physicians and medical and surgical specialists, as well as over 125 physicians-in-training within five residency programs. More than 1,300 volunteers give their time and talents to support these not-for-profit facilities, and more than $45 million in free care is provided to our community each year. As a non-profit, community-based organization, Abington Health provides care to all who come to us in need, regardless of ability to pay.

SOURCE Surgical Information Systems