| Jack
Bowie |
Apelon,
Inc. |
VP,
Sales & Marketing |
jbowie@
apelon.com
|
(203)
431-2530 Opt. 1, ext. 150 |
WOLTERS KLUWER HEALTH SELECTS APELON TERMINOLOGY
SOLUTIONS
Vocabulary mapping to standardize medical terminology and information
Philadelphia, Pa. – March 21, 2005 – Wolters
Kluwer Health (WKHealth), the leading drug and health information provider,
today announced it has selected Apelon Inc., provider of healthcare terminology
solutions, to supply terminology products and services for WKHealth customers.
The move will provide seamless vocabulary mapping for WKHealth’s
clinical tools, enhancing customer productivity and accuracy.
“The key to making informed medical decisions
is having access to the right information at the right time,” said
Ken Killion, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Health’s Clinical Tools business
unit. “Adding Apelon’s Distributed Terminology System to
our existing WKHealth clinical tools makes information more accessible
and user-friendly for our customers.”
WKHealth will integrate Apelon’s Distributed
Terminology System (DTS) into its content development systems and electronic
product platforms. The DTS system supports the use of standard medical
vocabularies like SNOMED-CT® in the creation and indexing of WKHealth’s
comprehensive, trusted medical information. The Apelon DTS system also
includes several tools, such as browsing, editing and mapping options.
“Apelon is very pleased to be awarded this opportunity
to work with Wolters Kluwer Health,” said Apelon President Stephen
Coady. “The breadth of their health information offerings can be
of significant value in driving forward patient care and safety.”
Wolters Kluwer Health will use the Apelon tools to map internal codes
and classifications to emerging national standards, such as SNOMED-CT,
owned and maintained by SNOMED International, a division of the College
of American Pathologists. SNOMED is slated to become the standard terminology
for electronic medical records. This mapping ability, in turn, will
enhance the integration of drug databases and reference information
into numerous WKHealth applications used daily by thousands of healthcare
professionals and pharmacy systems. WKHealth will also use the Apelon
cross-vocabulary mappings to leverage its expertise and depth of experience
in working with major vocabulary developers.
The Apelon terminology knowledge base includes key national standards
such as SNOMED CT, LOINC and ICD-9, a subscription update service to
ensure the latest and most accurate version of all terminologies, a
high performance DTS vocabulary server and robust applications for
browsing and extending standard terminologies. Wolters Kluwer Health
will also use Apelon’s new TermWorks web services offerings to
support its mapping and standardization requirements.
The incorporation of standardized terminology into WKHealth applications
will help facilitate the compatibility of data across WKHealth products,
enabling the implementation of advanced capabilities in guideline deployment
and decision support. By utilizing these standards across its extensive
information portfolio, WKHealth enables its clients to improve healthcare
delivery, education and medical research by ensuring that all participants
speak the same computer language.
###
About Wolters Kluwer Health
Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading provider of information for professionals
and students in medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the
pharmaceutical industry. It is part of Wolters Kluwer nv, Amsterdam,
an international legal, tax, business, education and health information
services company with annual sales (2003) of EUR 3.4 billion. The Clinical
Tools business unit offers industry-leading intellectual property,
next-generation integrated drug and disease databases and point-of-care
information tools for healthcare professionals. These tools aid in
disease management, error reduction, workflow improvements, and more
effective patient management and are used in thousands of hospitals,
pharmacies, and physician offices. The business unit includes the Medi-Span,
Facts and Comparisons, Clin-eguide and SKOLAR brands. Other major brands
of Wolters Kluwer Health include traditional publishers of medical
and drug reference tools and textbooks, such as Lippincott Williams & Wilkins;
electronic information providers, such as Ovid Technologies; and pharmaceutical
information provider Adis International. www.wkhealth.com.
About Apelon
Apelon is the largest provider of medical terminology software and
solutions. Organizations use Apelon software to improve the quality,
comparability and accessibility of clinical and other information.
Apelon offers terminology development and maintenance software, run
time vocabulary servers and components for concept-based indexing,
clinical guideline development and code set management. Please visit
www.Apelon.com for additional information.
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