EXTENSION, INC. to Launch Apple iPhone Application for Use in Clinical Workflows

FORT WAYNE, Ind., Nov. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — EXTENSION, INC. announced today that in addition to its Cisco IP device integration, it will make available for general release to the healthcare community the EXTENSION for Apple iPhone application. EXTENSION’s existing offerings use Cisco IP devices and smartphones as end points to deliver critical alerts and notifications. With this enhancement the smartphone devices will not only serve as communication end points but will further help to bridge the communication gap between physicians and nurses. Alerts and notifications received on the Apple iPhone via EXTENSION’s healthcare-centric software allow for an automated and interactive exchange among clinicians.

The addition of the Apple iPhone application to the EXTENSION® Solution Suite (ESS) is consistent with EXTENSION’s mission to ‘evolve healthcare with context-aware interactive communication’. “With the release of the EXTENSION Apple iPhone app, we’re helping satisfy a need in the healthcare community which is to provide not only nurses but physicians with technologies that will keep them abreast of what’s happening with their patients,” says Todd Plesko, CEO of EXTENSION. The EXTENSION iPhone application provides features such as critical lab report notifications, automated physician and nurse exchanges, report availability including pathology, cardiology, radiology, and more.

EXTENSION’s iPhone application is currently in trial at Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, CA. According to Bill Collins, Project Manager – Patient Care Systems Planning, of Stanford University Hospital, “Stanford is continually recognized as a pioneer in medical advances and has earned the title as one of ‘America’s Best Hospitals’ by U.S. News and World Report. Our progressive-thinking leadership is focused on continuous improvement in patient care. With EXTENSION we are exploring ways in which we can enhance workflows by streamlining critical alerts and notifications to nurses via smartphone devices. The collaboration between the EXTENSION Apple iPhone application and our nurse-call system will allow our nursing staff to quickly respond to patient needs, thus allowing us to further improve care coordination.”

The EXTENSION software solution – which tightly integrates with the Cisco Unified Communication platform and smartphones – is an enterprise-class solution delivered on a server. The server aggregates data from an organization’s disparate clinical and business systems and presents data to Cisco IP devices and smartphones allowing organizations to realize additional returns on the investments made into their existing systems. According to Todd Plesko, “With EXTENSION everything a hospital needs from a middleware solution is built into one box, by one company. We do not require other middleware to facilitate communication to the Cisco IP devices or smartphones nor do we require lots of servers to operate. Everything is included on a single appliance making it quick and easy to implement and less costly to support and maintain than alternative solutions. Also, having everything in one box makes accountability easy for our clients – it is one call to one company.”

EXTENSION anticipates that the iPhone application will be in production in a number of healthcare organizations in the U.S. and will be available via the Apple App store in the coming months.

About EXTENSION, INC.

EXTENSION, INC. is the developer of the patent-pending EXTENSION® Solution Suite (ESS). The EXTENSION suite of software expands Cisco Unified Communications (UC) and smart phones into clinical workflow tools automating notifications using all modern messaging platforms, including Cisco’s award-winning IP Phones. EXTENSION integrates any HL7- based application with Cisco Advanced UC, using standards-based protocols. EXTENSION has earned the AHA’s exclusive endorsement for its HealthID™ patient smart card solution and has recently earned the ‘Cisco Collaboration Partner of the Year for the US/Canada‘. For more on EXTENSION visit www.opentheredbox.com.