Electronic Health Reporter

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Oct. 2, 2013 — Cerner is pleased to announce a strategic relationship with Shawnee Mission Medical Center and TMC Lakewood that will focus on providing a new, enhanced maternity experience in Kansas City. This marks the first maternity initiative of its kind in the nation, putting Cerner at the forefront of innovative maternity programming and underscoring the company’s vision to transform health care.

“Within Cerner, we have a lot of new Cerner parents and growing families each year. We saw a unique opportunity to partner strategically with two health systems that have taken maternity care to the next level and have the ability to deliver an experience unlike any other,” said Julie Wilson, Cerner’s Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer.

Believing there was a way to improve infant and maternal health outcomes and transform the continuum of personalized maternal care, while managing rising health care costs for its associates, Cerner sought out strategic relationships in the Kansas City area. These health systems have been named Cerner Certified Maternity Partners and will support Cerner’s comprehensive maternity initiatives from pre-conception to return-to-work, redefining the role a health system provider plays in an employer setting.

“This initiative was born out of a vision for a first class experience every step along the way. We identified opportunities where we could optimize around the family and better align incentives to facilitate the best possible outcome and experience.” said Arielle Bogorad, Director of Benefits and Wellness at Cerner.

Cerner has selected Shawnee Mission Medical Center (SMMC) and TMC Lakewood (TMCL), two partners who share the vision for improving quality, experience and cost, after a city wide, year-long selection process.

“While there are many fine places to deliver in Kansas City, these two organizations stood out from the crowd from the beginning demonstrating an uncommon commitment to our shared values. We are encouraged that we have solidified a unique and effective relationship which will have significant clinical impacts and improve the overall quality of care. We feel this model will be one that is studied and replicated across the nation,” said Dr. David Nill, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer with Cerner.

As Certified Maternity Partners, each health system meets Cerner’s criteria surrounding patient-centered care, evidence-based medicine, utilization of technology and outstanding member experience. Additionally, these partners are working with Cerner to move the meter on cost-efficiency through a unique financial arrangement that aligns incentives with outcomes.

Together, Cerner and the Certified Maternity Partners will work to:

• Improve health outcomes for mothers and babies of Cerner associates
• Re-align stakeholders and incentives to create a new health economy around these services
• Create a market-leading innovative benefit plan design
• Partner to deliver a maternity health coaching program spanning from pre-conception to return-to-work
• Promote technology platforms that reduce errors and create efficiency in the maternity experience

“We are delighted to have been chosen as one of two Cerner Certified Maternity Partners in Kansas City,” said Denise Martinek, Shawnee Mission Medical Center Executive Director of Women’s and Children’s Services. “The Birth Center at Shawnee Mission Medical Center has long been the leader in maternity services in the Kansas City region. This innovative relationship will ensure that Cerner employees are supported throughout their pregnancy and birth experience, and are successful after discharge from the hospital. We are grateful to have been selected for our commitment to quality and exceptional service and look forward to caring for Cerner employees and their families as they bring new life into the world.”

“TMC is thrilled to expand our long-term relationship through the Cerner Certified Maternity Partners initiative and look forward to continuing our combined efforts to innovate the healthcare industry with state-of-the-art care environments and dedication to quality patient outcomes,” said TMC President and CEO John W. Bluford. “The Lakewood Family Birthplace is family-centered and every aspect of it is focused on the needs, comfort and safety of our mothers, babies and their families. This provides the optimum birthing environment backed up by top quality pre-natal care, family medicine, pediatrics and a host of specialty care programs that give our patients and their families the best in healthcare from birth through their senior years.”

The strategic agreement was formalized on October 1, 2013, and the program will begin October 7, 2013.

About Cerner

Cerner is contributing to the systemic change of health and care delivery. For more than 30 years Cerner has been executing its vision to make health care safer and more efficient. We started with the foundation of digitizing paper processes and now offer the most comprehensive array of information software, professional services, medical device integration, remote hosting and employer health and wellness services. Cerner systems are used by everyone from individual consumers, to single-doctor practices, hospitals, employers and entire countries. Taking what we’ve learned over more than three decades, Cerner is building on the knowledge that is in the system to support evidence-based clinical decisions, prevent medical errors and empower patients in their care.

Cerner solutions are licensed by approximately 10,000 facilities around the world, including more than 2,700 hospitals; 4,150 physician practices; 45,000 physicians; 550 ambulatory facilities, such as laboratories, ambulatory centers, behavioral health centers, cardiac facilities, radiology clinics and surgery centers; 800 home health facilities; 45 employer sites and 1,750 retail pharmacies.

Certain trademarks, service marks and logos (collectively, the “Marks”) set forth herein are owned by Cerner Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and certain other countries throughout the world. All other non-Cerner Marks are the property of their respective owners. Nasdaq: CERN. For more information about Cerner, please visit www.cerner.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

About Shawnee Mission Medical Center

Shawnee Mission Medical Center (SMMC) is a 504-bed facility with nearly 20,000 inpatient admissions and more than 200,000 outpatient admissions annually. SMMC has the busiest emergency department in Johnson County, the area’s first accredited Chest Pain Emergency Center, a nationally recognized Center for Women’s Health and delivers more babies each year than any other hospital in the metropolitan area. SMMC employs more than 2,900 local residents and supports an exceptional staff of 700 physicians representing 50 medical specialties, the largest medical staff in Kansas City. Visit us on the Web at ShawneeMission.org.

About TMC

Truman Medical Centers is a not-for-profit, two acute-care hospital health system in Kansas City. The TMC Health System includes TMC Hospital Hill, TMC Lakewood, TMC Behavioral Health, the Jackson County Health Department and a number of primary care practices throughout Eastern Jackson County. TMC is the primary teaching hospital for the University of Missouri-Kansas City Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry and Pharmacy and specializes in Chronic Disease Management, high risk pregnancies, orthopaedics, trauma services, and women’s health.  For more information, please call (816) 404-3785 or visit at www.trumed.org or on Facebook.