Centricity Advance features:

• Economical up-front investment of time and resources
• Intuitive training
• Minimal maintenance and support
• Standard protocols for advanced connectivity with outside systems

"Small physician practices are looking for an affordable solution to help them go digital quickly, minimizing or eliminating the disruptions of lengthy implementation and training times," said Vishal Wanchoo, president and CEO of GE Healthcare's information technology business. "When we deliver automation to their practices with solutions like Centricity Advance, we help them spend more time where it matters most - with patients, improving outcomes and enhancing the quality of care."

Minimal Implementation and Training Time
With Centricity Advance, physician practices can be up and running quickly, often completing implementation and training in under four weeks. Simple tutorials walk a clinician through the first use of its many features before taking the extra administrative work out of each clinical process it touches. The system’s intuitive design gives caregivers greater control over how practices use the system and makes activating or deactivating features as easy as clicking a button.

"I don't have the luxury of time or resources for a full-scale EMR implementation," said Dr. Desiree Butter, sole practitioner at Colonnades Family Medicine in Wexford, Pa. Dr. Butter uses the system to navigate the care of eight to ten patients per day, on average. "I appreciated the minimal training time for a solution truly targeted to meet my needs as a small, independent physician. It's rare to get the rich functionality usually found in larger solutions at a price usually found in smaller ones."

Centricity Advance's Patient Self-Service Portal provides patients with the keys to their care. Using their own secure password, patients can log in from anywhere to schedule their own appointments, request prescription refills or access billing statements, lab results and private messages from their clinicians.

SaaS: A Fast, Flexible and Affordable Solution
True SaaS technology is designed to be faster and more flexible than other Web-based EMRs since it is created from the ground-up to be hosted and delivered over the Internet to multiple customers. This model allows for "on-the-fly" upgrades as well as rapid deployment of value-added "à la carte" features.

Many vendors discuss what they call "Software as a Service" offerings but, in most cases, are actually referring to "hosted" or ASP (application service provider) models, in which traditional client/server software is accessed through a Web browser. "The differences are subtle but critical," said Chittaranjan Mallipeddi, vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare IT's newly launched SaaS business unit. After limited initial start-up costs, Centricity Advance is available to customers for a low monthly subscription fee. Most ASP models charge the customer a large upfront fee for the software purchase, followed by indefinite recurring hosting fees.

"Centricity Advance is designed with simplicity and pliability at center stage. After all, we know our customers aren't buying a system for today; they're buying a commitment to their future," Mallipeddi added.

Focused on "Meaningful Use" and the Strength of GE
Centricity Advance is well-suited to position eligible providers to prepare to demonstrate "meaningful use" of their EMR and take advantage of financial incentives available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 while improving overall practice management.

"Physicians know they need to adopt an EMR in the near-term in order to maximize their potential for stimulus reimbursements that start in 2011. In addition to seeking a solution that is tailored to the needs of their independent practices, they're looking for a strong, long-term partner with the experience to help them get the most out of their system," said Jim Corrigan, vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare IT’s ambulatory care business. "That's exactly what we've launched today in Centricity Advance, a SaaS EMR backed by the strength and stability of GE."

The Centricity Portfolio
Centricity Advance complements GE's existing portfolio by adding a "plug and play" SaaS EMR option for users that need an EMR today with the flexibility to grow alongside their practice tomorrow. It's the latest addition to the Centricity product suite providing the clinical and financial tools the market demands, and by connecting the entire continuum, helping enable better decisions at critical points in the care cycle. Across its entire wingspan of EMR, imaging, connectivity and business management IT products, GE Healthcare remains focused on identifying the information most important to its customers and creating solutions that will deliver it - when and where they need it most.

Related news articles:

• GE Healthcare's Profile

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 $16 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.