Press Release
Western Maryland Health System
Selects VISion, Versus Technology, Inc.’s Real Time Location System Following
Competitive Bid Process
(Traverse City, Michigan, March 24, 2009) – When Western
Maryland Health System opens its new regional medical center on Willowbrook
Road in Cumberland in the fall, it will do so with Enterprise VISion™, a
real-time location system (RTLS) from Versus Technology, Inc. in place. The
Versus infrared (IR) and radio-frequency RTLS is in keeping with the hospital’s
desire, not only for state-of-the-art technology, but connectivity to other
hospital systems, now and in the future.
The deployment is a multi-phased project that will eventually
consist of patient, staff and asset tracking. The initial phase includes
patient tracking in the large outpatient areas to make it easier for lab and
radiology technologists to locate patients. This will not only reduce wait times
for patients, but also the technologists’ workloads, allowing them to
concentrate on tests, results, and timely communication of those results.
Mobile asset tracking in acute areas will also enhance staff efficiency and
overall patient care. When expanded, Enterprise VISion™ will be integrated to
other hospital systems, including the GE Telligence nurse call life safety
system, supplied by Life Safety Systems, Inc.
“We chose Versus because of its great versatility,” explains Jo
M. Wilson, Vice President of Ancillary Support Operations for the Western
Maryland Health System in Cumberland, Maryland. “When our new hospital opens,
we will have one, easy-to-use software system to help us keep track of patients
who are having multiple tests in our greatly expanded outpatient diagnostic
center and our rolling-stock in our new 7-story facility. Enterprise VISionTM offers the
accuracy needed for integration with other applications, including our life
safety systems. We also appreciate that
it gives us the ability to start with these initial applications and then
expand in the future.”
“Versus has seen many RTLS vendors come and go throughout the
past decade,” says Paul Timmerman, VP of Business Development at Versus
Technology, “and certainly it’s hard to decipher between the fluff and
real-world results. But here’s the one thing anyone looking at clinical RTLS
needs to know: Accuracy Matters.
Western Maryland, in looking at several vendors, their promises,
accomplishments, and future outlooks came to understand this. Versus is proud
to be part of their state-of-the-art technology infrastructure.”
Timmerman goes on to explain, “Anyone can give you the general
location of an item—but why do you need a system to do that? Your staff can
probably guess and come closer. If you want to improve efficiency, automate
processes—and, certainly, if you want to do any sort of patient tracking—you
must have an accurate locating system that you and your staff can rely on.”
Exclusively endorsed by the AHA for its IR-RFID bed-level locating system,
Versus is the only single-source vendor dedicated to clinical RTLS for patient
and asset tracking.
About Western Maryland Health
System
The Western Maryland Health System (WMHS) in Cumberland serves
residents in Allegany and Garrett Counties in Maryland, five counties in West
Virginia and two counties in Pennsylvania. Formed in 1996, WMHS includes two
acute care hospitals, Memorial Hospital and Braddock Hospital. Currently under
construction is a new 585,000 square foot facility that will combine all of the
services at the two hospitals into one medical complex. The new WMHS Regional Medical Center is
slated to open in November 2009. Additional
information about WMHS and its new medical center is available at www.wmhs.com.
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)
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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
