IBM Media Contact Mike Shore (904) 278-3234 shore@us.ibm.com

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IBM Executive Sees Increased Availability and Use Of eHealth Applications Due to Open Standards

Aptos, California, Nov. 15...Mark J. Roman, general manager of IBM healthcare solutions predicted today that healthcare industry use of new, highly functional, easy-to-use, Web-enabled applications will double or even triple in coming months because the software application providers recognized the need to adopt open standards.

Mr. Roman envisioned a bright future for healthcare application providers following standards such as HL7, DICOM, CORBA, ANSI X.12 and others. "It means they can incorporate more features, functions, robustness and interoperability in their applications. These capabilities will encourage both practicing physicians and hospital/medical centers to adopt their applications faster than ever before," he said.

He added that IBM got out of the end-user application business. Instead, IBM is highly focused on collaborating with leading software developers as part of its e-business strategy to leverage its consulting, hardware, middleware and implementation services to healthcare providers, payors and pharmaceutical companies. His comments came at the eHealth Institute National Summit on Future of eHealth Application Development. He said IBM wants to partner with application providers that have a:

• Clear vision who are their customers and will listen to what those customers say they want or need in the way of software functions and capabilities;

• Smooth and reliable development process for getting the right applications to market on time with total quality;

• Grasp how the Internet is changing the rules, roles and relationships among consumers, providers and payors;

• Understand the benefit of linking their applications to IBM's open e-business framework to enable a total, interoperable solution instead of a software piece parts approach.

He closed his remarks by saying one of the most valuable talents application providers need is the ability to "know what they don't know" and seek help from other vendors, users, or consultants. He sees groups like the eHealth Institute as a catalyst for advancing application development.