TheraDoc® Technology Adopted by Two Pennsylvania Hospitals: Allegheny General Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

SALT LAKE CITY, July 23, 2007 – Two Pennsylvania-based hospital organizations, Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) in Pittsburgh and its Suburban Campus in nearby Bellevue, and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH), Philadelphia, have selected real-time electronic surveillance and expert clinical decision support systems provided by TheraDoc®, a clinical informatics company headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT. This brings to 20 the number of Pennsylvania hospital facilities utilizing TheraDoc technology, adding to implementations at 14 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) facilities and the three-hospital group comprising the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) in Philadelphia.

TheraDoc technology leverages data from multiple sources within the hospital (ADT, microbiology, lab, pharmacy, radiology, surgery, scheduling and vitals monitoring) to power an automated surveillance solution that accurately identifies infections and their cause. The technology is widely embraced in Pennsylvania, which has mandated reporting of all types of hospital-acquired infections (HAI), as well as other related quality-of-care measures. Newly passed Pennsylvania Senate legislation also mandates electronic surveillance systems be compatible with the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), a compliance TheraDoc meets by incorporating NHSN infection definitions into its system.

TheraDoc is also participating in a CDC pilot project to automate the reporting of infection rates to NHSN. This will make submitting infection reports to NHSN 'push button simple' for AGH and TJUH, as well as other TheraDoc customers in Pennsylvania and across the country. By supporting standards for infection surveillance, meeting state reporting requirements and eliminating duplicate entry, TheraDoc infection control software enables hospitals to focus on preventing infections while reducing the time it takes to perform these responsibilities.

Allegheny General Hospital

Allegheny General Hospital (AGH), an 829-bed academic health center, is a member of the West Penn Allegheny Health System and affiliated with Philadelphia-based Drexel University College of Medicine. AGH will implement the patented TheraDoc Expert System Platform® (ESP) and its full suite of Knowledge Modules to address patient-safety threats, including hospital-acquired infections, antimicrobial-resistant diseases and adverse drug events. TheraDoc's Infection Control Assistant® is implemented at AGH and will shortly be in full productive use.

According to Dr. Andrew Sahud, attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases; Chairman of Infection, Prevention and Control Committee, and assistant professor of the Drexel University College of Medicine, AGH selected TheraDoc because it provides the best tools for focusing attention on reducing HAIs and improving patient safety.

"TheraDoc technology is like a high-powered zoom lens," said Dr. Sahud. "It is the ultimate tool for manipulating, interpreting and understanding infection data in our hospital, while also giving us the flexibility to focus on one item in the distance, see the entire horizon, or take a retrospective look back on where a trend began. It is very user-intuitive and provides clinicians with the ability to set parameters for individualized queries and antibiograms."

Cheryl Herbert, Director, Infection Prevention at AGH adds, "The success that we have achieved in tracking and reducing hospital-acquired infections over the past five years will be further enhanced by the new capability that this technology affords us. We greatly appreciate the fact that TheraDoc has never forgotten the need for clinical input on the data it delivers. Its dynamic technology provides clinicians with the real-time information they need without taking away their decision-making power. We also value that they successfully apply current CDC criteria to everything they do."

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) will utilize TheraDoc's Expert System Platform and Infection Control Assistant to enhance its rigorous infection monitoring and control programs throughout the hospital.

"In our review of clinical decision support and infection control vendors, TheraDoc technology was by far the most-sophisticated and powerful program available," said Dr. Phyllis Flomenberg, Attending Physician in Infectious Diseases, Associate Professor of Medicine, and Director of TJUH's Infection Control Department. "Knowledge is empowerment and the more quickly real-time data can be provided, the better we can care for our patients. Without this technology, infection control is extremely labor intensive. TheraDoc merges all the sources of critical data and places it at our fingertips."

Rachel Sorokin, M.D., Associate Chief Medical Officer, TJUH, explains further. "At Jefferson, we have always diligently monitored hospital-acquired and community-acquired infections in every discipline within our institution. This effort, combined with PHC4 mandatory reporting of HAI's, has resulted in an enormous workload requiring a tremendous amount of personnel. TheraDoc technology not only monitors type, location and movement of an infection within a hospital - freeing our infection control personnel to serve on the floor where we most need them to be, its infrastructure is also continuously upgraded and updated with the latest expert knowledge."

TheraDoc - Non-Negotiable Adherence to Healthcare Industry Standards

TheraDoc's real-time surveillance, identification, guidance and reporting technologies not only help hospitals to prevent and control infections, they also support pharmacist workflow and communication for clinical activities and documentation; alert clinicians to adverse events and changes in patient condition and select evidence-based treatments. Additionally, these measures reduce associated costs and improve financial outcomes.

"We are privileged to add Allegheny General Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital to our growing number of hospital partners in Pennsylvania," said Stan Pestotnik, TheraDoc president and CEO. "TheraDoc's non-negotiable adherence to healthcare industry standards and best-practice solutions are inherent in every element of our technology as we strive to improve patient safety and care, along with financial outcomes for healthcare institutions and their patients."

TheraDoc currently serves clients in 28 states ranging from community hospitals under 100 beds to integrated delivery networks (IDNs) with more than 3,700 beds. Academic medical centers as well as VA, children's, and oncology hospitals with their outpatient clinics also benefit from the life-saving solutions delivered by TheraDoc.

About Allegheny General Hospital

Founded in 1885, Allegheny General Hospital has earned an international reputation for excellence and innovation in the care of patients, medical education and research. Serving Pittsburgh and the surrounding five-state area, the 829-bed academic health center offers a wide array of medical and surgical services. Over the past eight years, Allegheny General has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report magazine as one of "America's Best Hospitals" for a number of clinical specialties, and has been lauded as one of America's top 25 medical centers by the AARP's Modern Maturity magazine.

A long-standing commitment to education and research remains a cornerstone of Allegheny General Hospital's philosophy, as evidenced by its affiliation with Philadelphia-based Drexel University College of Medicine and ongoing, innovative research studies in the neurosciences, medical oncology, human genetics, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, orthopedics and trauma. A member of the West Penn Allegheny Health System, Allegheny General Hospital admits nearly 32,000 patients and logs about 56,000 emergency visits and 28,000 surgical procedures each year. Approximately 1,250 physicians and 4,600 employees share the hospital's commitment to excellence in patient care, medical education and research.

About Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Begun 1825, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals have 957 licensed, acute-care beds and major programs for a wide range of clinical specialties. The services of the academic medical center are delivered at several locations - Center City Philadelphia, Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, Methodist Hospital located in South Philadelphia, Jefferson HealthCARE - Voorhees in New Jersey, and several ambulatory care satellites and radiation therapy centers.

Formerly a division of Thomas Jefferson University, the hospital was separated from the university to become a founding member of the Jefferson Health System in 1995. In 1996, the hospital expanded its services to the community through a merger with Methodist Hospital, which became a division of Thomas Jefferson Hospitals. Today, the hospitals are committed to clinical excellence for patients, students and residents. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital continues to take pride in the quality and variety of health services provided to residents of the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the Delaware Valley and beyond. It is one of only a few hospitals in the United States that is both a Regional Trauma Center and a federally designated regional Spinal Cord Injury Center. For 17 consecutive years, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has been rated as one of "America's Best Hospitals" for many specialties.

About TheraDoc
TheraDoc is a clinical informatics company dedicated to improving the quality, efficiency and safety of patient care through enhanced clinical decision making. It provides innovative, best-in-class solutions that improve clinical and financial outcomes at a range of provider and payer organizations, including some of the most-respected healthcare institutions in the country. With clinical transparency, TheraDoc's technologies seamlessly place mission-critical knowledge at the clinician's fingertips, helping them to confidently manage multiple processes of care across multiple conditions and diseases. The company's strict adherence to medical informatics standards enables connectivity and interoperability with any hospital's disparate health information systems.

Founded in 1999, TheraDoc designs, develops and supports a suite of clinical decisions support technologies utilizing inference engines that enable its real-time solutions. TheraDoc's founders and core medical informatics team are internationally recognized for their pioneering and continuing work in medical expert systems. Their experience in clinical decision support design and development spans two decades. On the Net: www.theradoc.com.