Health-care companies among this year's InformationWeek 500 are deploying IT to boost patient care and safety, improve efficiencies, and reduce costs. Initiatives include systems for computerized physician order entry, E-prescriptions, wireless bedside bar-coded medication, and electronic medical records. They're able to flag potential problems such as drug allergies and dangerous interactions, enable critical-care personnel to treat patients remotely, and provide time- and cost-saving solutions.

One example is drug benefits and mail-order supplier Medco Health Solutions Inc.'s RationalMed Patient Safety Solutions, which analyzes clinical data from various sources to identify potential drug-related problems. In the last year, the system identified nearly a million patients at risk for medication issues, says Mark Halloran, Medco's senior VP and CIO. Medco developed proprietary clinical rules for the system that are applied to its NCR Teradata 30-terabyte data warehouse, which, Halloran says, is the 23rd largest data warehouse in the world.

INSIDE HEALTH CARE & MEDICAL Average portion of 2005 revenue spent on IT 3.0% Companies spending more on IT this year than last 75% Buying directly from foreign suppliers 13% Centralizing control of IT operations in past 12 months 68% Bringing outsourced functions in-house in past 12 months 20%

Technology also is helping companies deal with a nationwide shortage of intensivists or critical-care doctors. Saint Luke's Health System in February deployed an electronic intensive-care unit that lets it provide round-the-clock monitoring of as many as 100 ICU patients by one intensivist physician and two critical-care nurses at a remote center, says John Wade, Saint Luke's VP and CIO.

The E-ICU doctor and nurses observe patients via cameras. Monitors are programmed to send alerts if a patient's condition changes or other problems develop. Remote doctors can adjust some of the equipment from afar, such as the speed of intravenous drips, Wade says. Remote nurses and doctors also instruct on-site personnel on patient care.

Without the E-ICU, Saint Luke's would have had to close many of its ICU beds at its rural facilities in Kansas and Missouri, Wade says. "There's a shortage of about 35,000 to 40,000 intensivists nationally, yet government guidelines require an intensivist at every ICU bedside," he says. "Technology is helping to bridge that gap by bringing board-certified intensivists to the bedside electronically."

Baylor Health Care System, which operates hospitals in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, has introduced MediKiosks, wireless "E-clipboards" used by patients registering at the company's breast imaging center, says Bob Pickton, Baylor's senior VP and CIO. MediKiosks simplify a process that had required 13 paper forms and save 18 hours a day in staff time. They will be rolled out at 15 other outpatient facilities over the next three years, he says.

CareGroup Healthcare System has an electronic dashboard app in the emergency department of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to track patients' clinical progress, bed availability, and workflow. As a result, patients stay an average of 45 minutes less in the ER. Beth Israel also has a PanGo Networks Inc. Wi-Fi network that uses active RFID tags to track equipment and staff. Infants at its neonatal ICU wear bracelets with passive RFID tags.

CIO John Halamka, who mountain climbs, has taken RFID further by having a tag implanted in his arm. Medical data in the chip can be accessed if he fell and couldn't communicate. When Halamka tells people about the implant, he says responses "range from 'You're a true pioneer' to 'That's something out of The X-Files!'"

	I.T. BUDGET BREAKDOWN Hardware purchases IT services or outsourcing Research and development 24% 11% 3% Salaries and benefits Applications Everything else 33% 17% 12% Data: InformationWeek Research

Illustration By Paul Watson

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	HEALTH CARE & MEDICAL   Advocate Health Care   Allina Hospitals & Clinics   American Red Cross   Aurora Health Care   Banner Health   Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. * Baylor Health Care System   Beckman Coulter Inc. * Cardinal Health Inc.   CareGroup Healthcare System   Caritas Christi Health Care System   Catholic Health Initiatives   Catholic Healthcare West   Dade Behring Inc.   Duke University Health System   Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corp.   Express Scripts Inc. * Henry Schein Inc   Ingenix Inc.   Intermountain Health Care Inc.   Kindred Healthcare Inc.   Magellan Health Services Inc.   Medco Health Solutions Inc.   Memorial Healthcare System   Mercy Health Plans Inc.   Misys Healthcare Systems   New York City Health & Hospital Corp.   OhioHealth   Poudre Valley Health System * Quest Diagnostics Inc. * Saint Luke's Health System   Salvation Army USA West   Sky Ridge Medical Center   St Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc. * St. Joseph Health System * Sutter Health * Texas Health Resources   Universal Health Services Inc.   University Hospitals Health System   University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences   University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics Authority * UPMC Health System * denotes a top 100 company