CSC and AORN Collaborate With Cerner to Deliver Standardized Electronic Health Documentation Framework for Perioperative Care
News Release -- January 29, 2010
FALLS CHURCH, Va., and KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jan. 29, 2010 – Helping to streamline electronic documentation processes for perioperative care, CSC (NYSE: CSC) and the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) announced today that Cerner (Nasdaq: CERN), a global supplier of healthcare solutions, will be the first to provide AORN SYNTEGRITYTM Standardized Perioperative Framework (SPF) within a surgery and anesthesia management clinical information system. With AORN SYNTEGRITYTM, the amount of clinical staff time needed to configure and support electronic health record (EHR) perioperative documentation can be reduced by as much as 80 percent.
Currently, there are no standardized guidelines for recording patient data in perioperative systems. Hospitals invest valuable clinical resources in the development and management of their own guidelines, workflow processes and training documents required for electronic documentation. AORN SYNTEGRITYTM is designed to complement EHR programs. By incorporating the AORN SYNTEGRITYTM guidelines into the Cerner SurgiNet® solution, hospitals can reduce the time spent developing individual processes and guidelines and can ensure that perioperative care documentation is aligned with AORN recommendations.
“By bringing AORN SYNTEGRITYTM to Cerner’s clients, we can provide reliable documentation options for many operational and clinical evaluations, and help hospitals gather information for benchmarking that can be used to proactively determine changes needed to improve patient care,” said Deward Watts, president of CSC’s Healthcare Group. “The combination of AORN SYNTEGRITYTM Standardized Perioperative Framework and the Cerner Millennium SurgiNet solution further improves the safety and efficiency of hospital operating rooms.”
Developed by CSC and AORN, SYNTEGRITYTM helps streamline the capture of critical patient data for perioperative care in hospitals, outpatient facilities and ambulatory surgery centers. The framework enables health practitioners to quickly identify and document patient care elements across the continuum of perioperative care, including preadmission, preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative phases. AORN SYNTEGRITYTM also includes data fields necessary for reporting relevant operational, quality and regulatory information.
“Creating an electronic health record for every patient by 2014 is a big part of President Obama’s agenda, and AORN SYNTEGRITYTM Standardized Perioperative Framework provides a template for how electronic and standardized documentation can become widespread in not only surgical departments but across the healthcare continuum,” said AORN executive director Linda Groah, RN, MSN, CNOR, FAAN. “With today’s announcement, Cerner is helping hospitals come closer to fulfilling this federal requirement and guiding perioperative care professionals into the future of healthcare.”
AORN SYNTEGRITYTM incorporates AORN’s standardized nursing vocabulary, the Perioperative Nursing Data Set (PNDS), and aligns with clinical standards, accreditation specifications and regulatory requirements to promote ongoing compliance and consistent patient care. Data derived from AORN SYNTEGRITYTM documentation can be used to support benchmarking activities and will enable perioperative care practitioners to measure outcomes and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of care.
“Incorporating the AORN SYNTEGRITYTM Standardized Perioperative Framework into the Cerner SurgiNet solution, creates efficiency in documentation workflow, making it a valuable tool for hospitals to access perioperative information quickly and to effectively monitor compliance,” said Bryce Turnbull, Cerner perioperative solutions managing director. “These enhanced capabilities will help hospitals make significant improvements in the quality of patient data captured during the surgical experience.”
Hospitals can obtain more information at the annual AORN Congress (www.aorncongress.org) taking place March 13 through 18 in Denver, Colo. Details on AORN SYNTEGRITYTM are also available at www.aornSyntegrity.org.
CSC’s Global Healthcare Group, which serves healthcare providers, health plans, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and allied industries around the world, is a global leader in transforming the healthcare industry through the effective use of information to improve healthcare outcomes, decision-making and operating efficiency. AORN SYNTEGRITYTM is an integral part of CSC’s portfolio to transform healthcare with better information for better decisions. By having access to better information, healthcare professionals can make better decisions, which improves patient care and helps save lives and money.
About CSC
CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services through three primary lines of business. These include Business Solutions and Services, the Managed Services Sector and the North American Public Sector. CSC's advanced capabilities include systems design and integration, information technology and business process outsourcing, applications software development, Web and application hosting, mission support and management consulting. Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., CSC has approximately 92,000 employees and reported revenue of $16.0 billion for the 12 months ended October 2, 2009. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.dxc.technology.
About AORN
AORN, Inc., the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, represents over 41,000 Registered Nurses in the U.S. and abroad who facilitate the management, teaching and practice of perioperative nursing, or who are enrolled in nursing education or engaged in perioperative research. Its members also include perioperative nurses who work in related business and industry sectors. AORN's mission is to support RNs in achieving optimal outcomes for patients undergoing operative and other invasive procedures. AORN promotes quality patient care by providing its members with education, standards, services and representation. www.aorn.org
About Cerner
Cerner is transforming healthcare by eliminating error, variance and waste for healthcare providers and consumers around the world. Cerner® solutions optimize processes for healthcare organizations ranging in size from single-doctor practices, to health systems, to entire countries, for the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, and for the healthcare commerce system. These solutions are licensed by more than 8,000 facilities around the world, including approximately 2,100 hospitals; 3,300 physician practices covering more than 30,000 physicians; 500 ambulatory facilities, such as laboratories, ambulatory centers, cardiac facilities, radiology clinics and surgery centers; 600 home-health facilities; and 1,500 retail pharmacies. The trademarks, service marks and logos (collectively, the "Marks") set forth herein are registered and unregistered trademarks and/or service marks owned by Cerner Corporation in the United States and certain other countries throughout the world. Nasdaq: CERN. For more information about Cerner, please visit our Web site at www.cerner.com.