Baptist Health Systems Recognized for Outstanding Achievements in Healthcare Delivery
Medical Center Named Winner of 2008 VIP Award

Contact: Robby Channell, 601-968-5135 rchannell@mbhs.org

JACKSON, Miss. – August 8, 2008 — Baptist Health Systems (BHS), located in Jackson, Miss., today received a 2008 VIP Award from McKesson Technology Solutions for its use of information technology (IT) to achieve outstanding results in the delivery of healthcare to its community. The VIP Awards are presented annually to organizations that exhibit vision, innovation and performance in the use of healthcare IT. Baptist is one of six healthcare organizations selected this year by a panel of judges – who are considered experts in the field of healthcare IT use – to receive the award. In honor of its achievements, Baptist’s local foundation will receive a $10,000 grant from McKesson.

BHS was selected as a 2008 VIP Award winner for creating an innovative and fully integrated medication management process – helping to ensure safety checks from the time a physician orders the medication to the time the pharmacist verifies the order and the medication is ultimately delivered to the patient. In fact, BHS is now among a small percentage of U.S. hospitals with end-to-end medication safeguards in place.

“We know that the quest to provide safe patient care is never ending,” says Eric McVey, BHS vice president and chief medical officer. “We will continue to assess care, identify potential areas for improvement and implement technologies that support the optimal patient care experience. Our clinicians and patients deserve nothing less.”

The investment and use of information technology at Baptist helps support a culture of safety at each step of the medication use process. Clinicians can access vital patient information anytime, anywhere via the Internet thanks to McKesson’s Web portal technology. Physician orders are submitted electronically with a computerized physician order entry system that helps to ensure accuracy and has helped create a significantly shorter medication order-to-delivery time. Baptist also has achieved impressive medication bar-code scanning rates across the organization. In addition to improvements to the medication management process, nurses have been freed from many administrative tasks and can now focus even more on providing quality care for their patients.

“Every year, McKesson’s VIP Award winners raise the bar for what it means to deliver outstanding healthcare,” said Michael Brozino, vice president of marketing, McKesson Provider Technologies. “It’s rewarding for us to see how organizations like Baptist are using the power of information technology to deliver more efficient and more effective care for their patients.”

VIP Award applicants underwent a rigorous judging process based on six weighted criteria: definition of the business objective, quality of the process used to make improvements, use of McKesson solution in enabling the improvement, impact on clinical and/or financial issues, improvement in service to the community, and the method used to measure results.

About McKesson
McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 18th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes, and improving the quality and safety of patient care. McKesson is the longest-operating company in healthcare today, marking its 175th anniversary this year. Over the course of its history, McKesson has grown by providing pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals, physicians, homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit http://www.mckesson.com.

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