Medworxx Responds to Ontario Auditor General Report

TORONTO, Dec. 9 /CNW/ - Medworxx Inc. ("Medworxx") (TSXV: MWX), provider of healthcare solutions for patient flow, compliance and education, commented today on the 2010 Annual Report of the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario (the "Report), specifically on Section 3.02, Discharge of Hospital Patients.

The Report states that "In 2009, over 50,000 patients waited in hospital due to delays in arranging post-discharge care (also known as patients waiting for an alternate level of care, or ALC), accounting for 16% of total patient days in all Ontario hospitals."  These patients are taking up beds and preventing admissions from emergency departments on a timely basis.  Clearly, patient flow is a huge issue.  Medworxx products, combined with other programs and change elements, make a significant impact in solving this challenge.

"Solutions like the Medworxx Patient Flow Platform can address recommendations in the Auditor General's Report, specifically as they relate to the discharge of patients and wait times.  This solution has the potential to dramatically improve the likelihood of patients receiving the right care in the right place at the right time," said Michael Decter, former Deputy Minister of Health for Ontario, and noted industry expert.  "This means an improved experience for the patient and their family, and a more efficient use of our healthcare dollars."

The Medworxx Patient Flow Platform focuses on the improvement of patient flow and quality of care using proven methodologies and utilization management best practices.  It is currently in use at 125 hospitals across Canada; this number is growing as more hospitals and health regions are making patient flow a priority.  Medworxx uniquely combines clinical assessments of the patient and operational best practices to manage and improve patient flow within the acute care and post-acute care hospital settings.  The platform continually evolves based on best practice research and collaboration with physicians, nurses, and other users of the Medworxx suite.  There are three products that comprise the Medworxx Patient Flow Platform:  the Medworxx Utilization Management System, Bed Optimization System, and Independent Assessment.

The Medworxx Utilization Management System (UMS) focuses on reducing length of stay, improving patient flow in the hospital, and eliminating barriers and delays to patient care.  The Bed Optimization System (BOS) provides a real time clinical status of patients, beds and resources across departments, hospitals, and regions.  Independent Assessment is a platform for assessing patients against any number of standards for patient classification and reporting.  One example is assessing Alternative Level of Care (ALC).

Currently, 38% of the beds in Ontario hospitals use some element of the Medworxx Patient Flow Platform.  These organizations are benefiting from improved patient flow, reduced length of stay, improved identification of and processes around alternate level of care, reduced emergency department wait times, reduced readmission rates, and greater transparency through improved knowledge of care delays.  Information from the Medworxx solution can be used to support many of the recommendations in the Report, such as the daily bullet-round discussions recommended by the Flo Collaborative as referred to in the Auditor General Report.

"At the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), we are rolling out Medworxx across all of our hospitals to streamline our patient flow processes and reduce the number of inpatients who are designated Alternate Level of Care (ALC), meaning that their care needs no longer require a hospital stay," said Gary Switzer, CEO, Erie St. Clair LHIN.  "The Medworxx tool represents a huge advance for hospitals in Erie St. Clair by helping them to proactively monitor and manage patient flow and allowing them to anticipate access issues and mitigate them as quickly as possible."

One of the recommendations in the Report is that "larger hospitals should assess the costs and benefits of implementing a bed management system that provides "live" information on the status of hospital beds, including which beds are occupied, awaiting cleaning, and available for the next patient, as well as the reasons for delays in placing admitted patients in available beds".  The Medworxx platform does exactly that, and in fact this functionality is currently being rolled out at two of the hospitals that were the subjects of this audit. 

"With the Medworxx Patient Flow Platform, patient flow will be improved by implementing a technology supported by proven methodologies that will drive process change in any healthcare organization," said Dan Matlow, President & CEO, Medworxx.  "Clear benefits and documented results are being seen by hospitals, regions, and LHINs across the country.  Our goal is to have the Medworxx Patient Flow Platform used across Canada, as well as take it internationally.  We are excited about the opportunity to further improve patient flow.  The Auditor General Report takes us a step closer to having Medworxx used throughout all of Ontario."

About Medworxx
Medworxx provides healthcare solutions for patient flow, compliance and education.  Founded in 2004, Medworxx products are now used by more than 500,000 people at over 300 hospitals across North America. Medworxx: our market is healthcare, our vertical is knowledge. For more information, visit www.medworxx.com. 

The statements made in this Press Release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed this press release and neither approved nor disapproved the information contained in this press release.

For further information:

Susan Gershman, EVP Operations & Marketing
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