Leading Hospitals Select Canopy Care Management Solution by A4 Health Systems; Case Management...

CARY, N.C. -- A4 Health Systems(R), a leading provider of healthcare IT solutions, announces today the following leading healthcare organizations have selected Canopy(R) Care Management solution to electronically manage patient care and discharge processes: Bayfront Health System, St. Petersburg,

Fla.; Springhill Medical Center, Mobile, Ala.; and Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, Texas. The three organizations will join more than 200 hospitals across the country that have implemented Canopy to efficiently handle their care management programs through the use of information technology.

"Like many full-service hospitals today in major metropolitan areas, Bayfront must strive to deliver the best care possible for its community and always be accessible," said John McLendon, vice president and CIO of Bayfront Health System. "When looking at care delivery as a series of collaborative processes as the patient moves through our healthcare system, we often find information inefficiencies and potential points of failure. During the search for a system to help Bayfront improve patient throughput and place clinical intelligence in the hands of our case managers, our selection team found the Canopy system to be the optimal solution."

Bayfront will utilize Canopy UM(R) Utilization Management and Canopy CM(R) Case Management modules to lower Avoidable Days, optimize patient Length of Stay (LOS) and eliminate paper in the Case Management Department. Facilities implementing Canopy include Bayfront Medical Center, Bayfront Home Health, Bayfront Same Day Surgery, Bayfront Family Practice and Bayfront Convenient Care.

Both Springhill Medical Center and Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas opted for the full suite of functionality from Canopy, including Canopy UM Utilization Management, Canopy CM Case Management and Canopy QM(TM) Quality Management. Springhill will also take advantage of Canopy Connect, which seamlessly provides fully audited online communication and autofax capabilities to post-acute care resources and payors. Through Canopy Connect, Springhill will have the ability to efficiently manage information requests and issue tracking and reply routing for communications such as referrals, clinical reviews and authorizations.

Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, the fourth Texas Health Resources hospital in the last six months to select Canopy, chose to take advantage of the hospital's internal technology infrastructure by hosting the solution in-house rather than via the ASP model.

About Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas

Established in 1966, Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas (PHD) is celebrating its 40th Anniversary in 2006. PHD is the flagship hospital of Presbyterian Healthcare System, a member of the faith-based, nonprofit Texas Health Resources system. PHD is a recognized clinical program leader, providing technologically advanced care to patients in Women and Infants, Cardiovascular, Orthopedic, Neuroscience, Digestive/Surgery, Oncology, and Outpatient Care services. PHD is a regional referral hospital for North Texas and beyond. The 866-bed facility maintains approximately 4,000 employees and an active medical staff of more than 1,000 physicians.

About Springhill Medical Center

Springhill Medical Center is a 252-bed, complete medical-surgical healthcare facility with all private rooms serving the greater Southwest Alabama region. The hospital handles more than 13,010 discharges annually.

About Bayfront Health System

This year, Bayfront Medical Center - a 502-bed, not-for-profit, teaching hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. - celebrates its Centennial Anniversary. For 100 years, Bayfront has responded to the healthcare needs of West Coast residents. Bayfront is also home to Bayflite - the largest hospital-based flight program in the Southeastern United States. Bayfront has received numerous national accolades, including: the Gold Seal of Approval for stroke care from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers; and Working Mother magazine's "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" for nine years. Bayfront is committed to improving the health of the community it serves through partnerships and leadership, while providing healthcare services that are driven by quality and its values.

About A4 HEALTH SYSTEMS

A4 HEALTH SYSTEMS (www.a4healthsystems.com) is dedicated to promoting community-based healthcare via healthcare IT solutions for consolidated clinical, financial and administrative patient information management. Led by its HealthMatics(R), Canopy(R) and EmSTAT solutions, A4 provides software and service solutions for physician practice and hospital settings to improve and better manage the delivery of patient care. Founded in 1970, A4 has nationally implemented software and services in more than 1,850 healthcare organizations, including physician groups and small practices, and Emergency Departments and hospitals. A4 represents Authorized Access, Anywhere, Anytime and is based in Cary, N.C., with additional locations in New Hampshire, Texas and Michigan. The company is privately held with 400 employees.