News

HIMSS 2003 Annual Conference

ADVISORY...for Sun.-Thurs. (Feb. 9-13)

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 2003--MedPoint(TM) -- Attendees at the 2003 HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) meeting -- scheduled for Feb. 9-13 -- will have ample opportunity to learn more about MedPoint(TM), Bridge Medical's award-winning barcode-enabled point-of-care (BPOC) patient safety software. Some of these are detailed below. All events are at the San Diego Convention Center unless otherwise noted.

HIMSS `Book of the Year' focuses on safety at the point of care

WHAT:       HIMSS/CHIME Awards Banquet: HIMSS Book of the Year

WHEN:       Feb. 11; reception at 6:30, dinner at 7 pm.

WHO:        Bridge SVP/COO Russell "Rusty" R. Lewis will accept
            an award for The Impact of Information Technology on
            Patient Safety on behalf of his co-contributors -- "a
            veritable `who's who' of patient safety experts," in the
            words of HIMSS President/CEO H. Stephen Lieber. Nationally
            recognized patient safety leader Gordon Sprenger; medical
            informaticist Jonathan M. Teich, MD, PhD; Georgetown
            University Medical Center transfusion medicine director S.
            Gerald Sandler, MD, FACP, FCAP; and Bridge BPOC experts
            Mary Michael Brown, RN, MS, Jamie Kelly, Barbara
            Trohimovich, RPh, and Michael Yang, MD, MS, are among the
            contributors.

WHERE:      Hotel del Coronado Crown Room, San Diego.

MORE:       First released at the HIMSS summer meeting in Las
            Vegas, the book was edited by Lewis, and is "designed to
            keep healthcare information technology professionals
            abreast of the latest patient safety issues," says Lieber.
            "The book demonstrates BPOC technology's impact on patient
            safety."

            Adds Lewis: "All the contributors are avid advocates of
            technology's power to transform the current hospital
            environment into one where patient safety is a given not a
            goal. Spiraling healthcare costs, nursing and pharmacist
            shortages, regulatory initiatives, and other pressures,
            make patient safety an essential business strategy."

            See http://www.bridgemedical.com/lewis2.shtml for details
            on the book.


`Real-world' benefits and limitations of BPOC

WHAT:       HIMSS Session #76: "Using Barcode Technology To Improve
            Patient Safety."

WHEN:       Feb. 11; 1-2:15 pm

WHERE:      Room 6F.

MORE:       Lewis will explore positive identification using
            barcodes, error-reduction applications and results from
            multiple hospitals, and real-world benefits and
            limitations of barcoding systems.


Hummel on MedPoint

WHAT:       HIMSS Vendor Product Session featuring John Hummel
            on Bridge barcode technology.

WHO:        Hummel is CIO and senior vice president of
            information technology at Sutter Health, an award-winning
            26-hospital health network in Northern California that's
            implementing MedPoint. His work spearheading integration
            of numerous technologies throughout Sutter was recently
            recognized by Computerworld.

WHEN:       Feb. 10; 4:30-5:15 pm

WHERE:      Room #11B.

MORE:       "Our information technology taskforce concluded
            MedPoint was the BPOC system best equipped to meet all our
            clinical and technical criteria," says Hummel. "Bridge has
            optimized its implementation process so that hospitals can
            deploy this sophisticated technology quickly, affordably
            and painlessly. The product's open technology and
            successful interface history were also major
            considerations. Extensively tested by hospitals around the
            country for years, MedPoint is perfect for hospitals that
            require their IT vendors to be team players."

About HIMSS

Based in Chicago, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society provides more than 12,000 individual, and 100 corporate members, leadership in healthcare for the management of technology, information and change through services, education and networking opportunities, and publications.

On the Net: HIMSS Conference site: http://conference.himss.org/ASP/education.asp.

About Bridge

Founded in 1996, Bridge Medical, Inc. -- an AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) company -- is headquartered in Solana Beach, Calif. Bridge has pioneered the use of barcoding at the bedside to promote patient safety.

Learn more about Bridge and MedPoint at a HIMSS Media Briefing, Feb. 10 at 11:30 am, Room 14B (Exhibit Hall, Mezzanine Level) or at HIMSS Booth 3349.

On the Net: Bridge Medical site: http://www.bridgemedical.com

MedPoint is a trademark of Bridge Medical Inc. The names of other companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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