Press Release

Versus Technology and Columbus Regional Hospital Present Enterprise Locating Solution at HIMSS ‘08

 

(Traverse City, Michigan, February 20, 2008) – In a special HIMSS ’08 Pavilion Product Session on February 26 at 12:15, Columbus Regional Hospital located in Columbus, IN, will present its innovative use of Versus Technology, Inc.’s Real-Time Location Information System (RTLIS), VISion. A comprehensive RTLIS, VISion combines infrared (IR) and radio-frequency identification (RFID) to precisely locate people and equipment. Veronica Kagley, Information Systems Analyst at Columbus Regional Hospital and HT Snowday, CTO of Versus Technology, Inc. will offer practical insight to the benefits of real-time locating.

 

Using VISion, Columbus Regional Hospital currently tracks over 1,500 pieces of equipment enterprise-wide. In addition, they track patients within the emergency department, automate nurse presence on their inpatient care floors, identify staff locations and call alerts in the separate Behavioral Health Unit, and plan to extend patient and staff locating to other areas within the facility. In keeping with their core commitment to patient care, Columbus uses Versus’ location information as the driver for reporting and automation, and integrates VISion to their McKesson ADT, Rauland-Borg Nurse Call and Premise Bed Xpress systems, to automate (among others) patient visit milestones, time-stamping, call cancellation, and room availability notifications.

 

“We automate events based on the location of a person or item. Wi-fi presents a sphere of uncertainty; we selected the Versus IR-RFID technology because it offered a more accurate and complete solution. We could not rely on wi-fi alone to identify the exact, room-level location that we must have when performing and we cannot operate our location processes in that manner,” commented Dave Lenart, Director of Facilities at Columbus Regional.

 

“Hospitals are in constant flux, so it is important for an RTLIS to provide consistent, reliable results,” Snowday explains. “Columbus Regional understands this and uses VISion to monitor these changes. Tasks that would otherwise be time consuming and direct the caregiver’s attention away from the patient are now automated. Columbus Regional is a great model for best practices.”

 

 

About Columbus Regional Hospital

Columbus Regional Hospital is a 225-bed, leading, not-for-profit provider of quality health care services in Columbus, IN, serving the southeastern Indiana region. Columbus Regional Hospital’s commitment to serving the community and being at the forefront of quality patient care is recognized by several national accreditation organizations. Columbus Regional Hospital is the 2007 recipient of the American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality PrizeÒ, the highest quality honor awarded by the hospital industry, and ranks as one of the Best Places to Work in Indiana.

 

About Versus Technology, Inc.

For nearly 20 years, Versus Technology, Inc. has maintained the leadership position in the development and sale of context-aware real-time location systems (RTLS) used for enterprise patient tracking, bed management and asset tracking to improve patient flow and caregiver/patient communications in hospitals, clinics and long-term care facilities. Versus also develops dual infrared and Active RFID tags and other location tracking hardware to make locating systems more precise, security systems more intelligent, nurse call systems automatic, and hospital asset tracking systems more efficient. Indoor positioning through Versus’ RTLS enhances existing hospital software and patient care systems with real-time, reliable bed-level location information. The patented Versus IR and Active RFID patient and asset tracking system is exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association and is a key component of their Patient Flow Platform—which includes a select group of vendors that provide proven solutions to enhance patient flow and improve patient safety. (www.versustech.com; Pink Sheets: VSTI.PK)

 

Safe Harbor Provision

This document may contain forward-looking statements relating to future events, such as the development of new products, the commencement of production, or the future financial performance of the Company. These statements fall within the meaning of forward-looking information as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to a number of important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially including, but not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, and technological factors affecting the Company’s markets and market growth rates, products and their rate of commercialization, services, prices and adequacy of financing, and other factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update, amend, or clarify forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise.

 

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Media Contact:                                                           Investor/Analyst Contact:

Versus Technology, Inc.                                                Versus Technology, Inc.           

Stephanie Bertschy, Director of Marketing                       Joseph Winowiecki, Chief Financial Officer

877.983.7787                                                                231.946.5868

skb@versustech.com                                                    joew@versustech.com