MaSSSoftech

Perot Systems Webinar to Provide Industry Perspective on Health Information
Exchanges
Discussion Focuses on Linking Healthcare Providers to Enhance Access to
Patient Information and Improve Quality of Care

PLANO, Texas, Sept. 14, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Perot Systems
Corporation (NYSE: PER) today announced that it will conduct a free webinar
Wednesday, September 16, from 2:00-3:00 pm (CDT) on Health Information
Exchanges (HIEs), providing an industry perspective and highlighting recent
activities and trends. The webinar will help healthcare leaders and state
officials better understand how to establish and evolve HIEs. The webinar
will be hosted by Tim Quigley and Dave Marchand, leaders in the Perot Systems
Healthcare group.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 provides nearly $600
million in start-up money for the creation of HIEs, which are expected to help
healthcare providers better exchange critical patient health information and
improve the interoperability of Electronic Health Records (EHRs).

During the webinar, participants will learn:

-- The market conditions driving the need for HIEs, including federal
grants and incentive payments
-- Key issues and challenges states, regional entities, and healthcare
providers must consider when implementing HIEs
-- Technology, privacy, and security issues regarding health data
exchange
-- Different HIE deployment models and evolutionary paths
-- How HIEs enable "community based" services

-- Perot Systems approach to improving the adoption rate and lowering the
costs and risks associated with implementing HIEs/EHRs.




WHAT: Perot Systems webinar on Health Information Exchanges (HIEs)

WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 16; 2:00-3:00 pm (CDT)

REGISTER: www.perotsystems.com/insights.

QUESTIONS: Karen Modlin, (972) 577-3597, karen.modlin@ps.net




Perot Systems Corporation: A US Healthcare IT Services Industry Leader

-- Ranked #1 in market share for healthcare professional services in
North
America by the Gartner Group
-- Recognized by the Black Book of Outsourcing as the highest rated
full-service vendor by Hospital & Healthcare Provider clients as
well as the highest rated Information Technology Outsourcing Vendor,
based on criteria such as trust, reliability, and client relationships

-- Earned two prestigious KLAS awards, including the #1 ranking of
professional services firms that provide clinical implementation
services



About Perot Systems
Perot Systems is a worldwide provider of information technology services and
business solutions. Through its flexible and collaborative approach, Perot
Systems integrates expertise from across the company to deliver custom
solutions that enable clients to accelerate growth, streamline operations and
create new levels of customer value. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Perot
Systems reported 2008 revenue of $2.8 billion. The company has more than
23,000 associates located in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia
Pacific. Additional information on Perot Systems is available at
http://www.perotsystems.com/.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to
known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. For
factors that could affect our business and cause actual results to differ
materially, please refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2008, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission and available at http://www.sec.gov/, as updated in our Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q filed after such Form 10-K, for additional information
regarding risk factors. We disclaim any intention or obligation to revise any
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future
developments, or otherwise.

Computerworld - Open-source medical software has been around for over 30 years. Unless you are in healthcare IT, however, chances are you've never even heard of it. But that's poised to change.

With the passage of ARRA (the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act of 2009, also called the federal stimulus package), some $19 billion dollars have been earmarked for Medicare and Medicaid technology incentives over the next five years. This program is known as HITECH (PDF), short for Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health.

The program will use carrots, in the form of several million dollars per hospital and up to $44,000 for individual doctors, and sticks, in the form of Medicare reimbursement cuts, to get hospitals and doctors to move to EHRs (electronic health records), also called EMRs (electronic medical records).

This may be the start of a sea change in medical IT. In the past, the field has been a patchwork of feudal states: Dozens of companies produced an endless parade of programs using incompatible data formats that covered different parts of the healthcare world. Now, if EHRs become widespread, hospitals and other medical providers will be finally able to tap into each other's work.

Rationalizing this complex set of programs won't be easy, according to Dr. David Blumenthal, head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT at Health and Human Services, who will oversee HITECH. Blumenthal said in a recent New England Journal of Medicine article that he expects EHR adoption to encounter "huge challenges." Some of these issues include high initial setup costs, technical problems and privacy concerns.
Measuring tape

It also doesn't help that EHR technology, generally speaking, may not be ready yet. The federal government contracts with a private organization, the CCHIT (Certification Commission for Health Information Technology), to certify EHRs as having the basic capabilities the federal government believes they need. "But many certified EHRs are neither user-friendly nor designed to meet HITECH's ambitious goal of improving quality and efficiency in the health care system," Blumenthal wrote.

In fact, it's going to be an uphill battle simply getting any EHR systems, be they open-source or proprietary, into place. Today, EHRs are used only in small numbers, according to an April survey in the New England Journal of Medicine. Only 1.5% of U.S. hospitals have a comprehensive electronic-records system -- one that's present in all clinical units -- and an additional 8% have a basic system that's in at least one clinical unit, the survey said.

Nor are those in place necessarily doing a great job of it. As Burton Group senior analyst Joe Bugajski details in his horrifying personal tale of a medical emergency that was made even worse by a poorly implemented EHR system, existing EHR systems are often a mess. Bugajski found systems that used "an incoherent database design [that] isolates patient information from one department to the next and from one organization to the next. This wastes time and increases errors because medical personnel must enter patient information into a unique view of the system that corresponded to user identity and department -- this prevents one medical professional from seeing patient information input by another medical professional."

BEIJING (Reuters) - Schools in Beijing are quietly removing the Green Dam filter, which was required for all school computers in July, due to complaints over problems with the software.

China last month formally backed down on a plan to preinstall the Internet filter software on all new computers sold in the country after July 1 after an international and domestic outcry.

But schools were still ordered by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to install the web filter, which Chinese officials said would block pornography and other unhealthy content. Critics said it could be used to spy on Internet users and block politically sensitive sites.

Nonetheless, some schools have chosen to uninstall it.

"We will remove all Green Dam software from computers in the school as it has strong conflicts with teaching software we need for normal work," said a notice carried on the home page of the Beijing No.50 High School (www.bj50.com), dated Sept 1.

A technology director, surnamed Wang, confirmed Tuesday that the software had been taken off most computers.

"It has seriously influenced our normal work," he said.

The software had proven incompatible with most of the software used for the school administration, he said.

"We have received many complaints from schools about the problems in the software," an official surnamed Sun at the Chongwen District Education Commission, which is in charge of the school, told Reuters.

"It is really a contradictory situation for us," Sun added, saying the commission was caught between central authorities' directions to install the software and the school complaints.

Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information technology, said in August that schools, Internet bars and other public places must still install the Green Dam software. But he said no ordinary consumers would be forced to install it.

The software, developed by Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co, has been condemned by the technology industry as badly designed even for those looking to protect children.

During the Green Dam test phase, an outcry from school computer administrators and teachers throughout the country triggered hot discussions on the Internet about its flaws. The software must be installed on each computer, not from a central server, and can cause other programs to crash.

Earlier this month, some newspapers reported that the Beijing City Education Commission had agreed to let schools uninstall the Green Dam softwares. An official reached by Reuters Tuesday said he knew nothing about the new decision.

CVR Energy Selected as a Top Technology Innovator




MONARCH BEACH, Calif., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CVR Energy, Inc.
(NYSE: CVI), a refiner and marketer of petroleum fuels and a nitrogen
fertilizer manufacturer, today announced that it debuted at No. 223 on the
2009 InformationWeek 500, an annual listing of the nation's most innovative
users of business technology. CVR Energy was recognized for its advanced
approach to information access and content management within its organization.


(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071203/CVRLOGO)

"Our IT organization has worked diligently to focus on innovation and drive
real value for our business," said Mike Brooks, CVR Energy vice president and
chief information officer. "One area of our focus is on managing the many ways
our employees are communicating. Important data now exists in e-mail, instant
messages and voicemail--places that traditionally have been hard to manage
with information access solutions. We've stayed ahead of the curve by
implementing a technology system that can handle these new forms of data
intelligently."

To manage the growing volume of information within the enterprise, CVR Energy
implemented Intelligent Data Operating Layer (IDOL), award-winning software
from Autonomy Corporation. The software allows CVR Energy to analyze data
across its eight offices to find trends and patterns in an efficient and
cost-effective manner.

"For more than 20 years, the InformationWeek 500 has honored the most
innovative users of business technology," said InformationWeek's
Editor-in-Chief Rob Preston. "Year after year, InformationWeek 500 companies
harness new technology to improve efficiency, boost productivity, drive
revenue, and establish a competitive advantage. We applaud this year's
winners, and the CIOs and other executives whose ingenuity and risk taking are
at the center of business technology innovation."

InformationWeek identifies and honors the nation's most innovative users of
information technology with its annual 500 listing, now in its 21st year, and
also tracks the technology, strategies, investments and administrative
practices of America's best-known companies. The InformationWeek 500 list is
unique among corporate rankings as it spotlights the power of innovation in
information technology, rather than simply identifying the biggest IT
spenders. Additional details on the InformationWeek 500 can be found online at
www.informationweek.com/iw500/.

About CVR Energy, Inc. (www.cvrenergy.com)
Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, CVR Energy, Inc.'s subsidiary and
affiliated businesses include an independent refiner that operates a 115,000
barrel per day refinery in Coffeyville, Kan., and markets high value
transportation fuels supplied to customers through tanker trucks and pipeline
terminals; a crude oil gathering system serving central Kansas, northern
Oklahoma, eastern Colorado, western Missouri and southwest Nebraska; an
asphalt and refined fuels storage and terminal business in Phillipsburg, Kan.;
and through a limited partnership, an ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate
fertilizer business located in Coffeyville, Kan.

About TechWeb (www.techweb.com/aboutus)
TechWeb, the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative
business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and
marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media
brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million*
business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created
around our global face-to-face events Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and
VoiceCon; online resources such as the InformationWeek.com, Light Reading,
Intelligent Enterprise, bMighty.com, and Advanced Trading; and the market
leading, award-winning InformationWeek and Wall Street & Technology magazines.
TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation
performance marketing, integrated media, market research, and analyst
services.

TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news
distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization
of more than $2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections
across TechWeb brands.

Aflac Earns a Spot on 2009 InformationWeek 500 List of Top Technology
Innovators Across America
Insurer's Client Central 2.0 Application Improves Customer Relations
Experience




COLUMBUS, Ga., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aflac, the leading provider
of guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States, today announced that
it has been named to the 2009 InformationWeek 500 list of the nation's most
innovative users of business technology. The 2009 InformationWeek 500
companies were revealed Sept. 14, at an awards ceremony at the St. Regis
Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, California.

Aflac, which is committed to providing the best service possible in response
to the more than 12 million annual calls received at its customer service
center, was nominated for its Client Central 2.0 application, a .Net-based,
rich-client application that integrates information from several systems in an
innovative graphical user interface (GUI) experience. The application allows
Aflac's customer service representatives to quickly review customer
information, policy data, recent claims and calls to effectively answer
policyholders' questions.

"We are honored to be included on this prestigious list for the seventh time,"
said Gerald Shields, Aflac senior vice president and chief information
officer. "It just shows that great things can happen when you consistently
hire talented people, provide them with the tools they need to do their jobs
and give them the freedom to be creative. With Client Central 2.0, we can
capture, track and analyze customer retention data to better identify
potential lost customers and avoid revenue loss. This is significant for our
business, but ultimately Aflac's customers are the winners."

"For over 20 years, the InformationWeek 500 has honored the most innovative
users of business technology," said InformationWeek Editor-in-Chief Rob
Preston. "Year after year, InformationWeek 500 companies harness technology to
improve efficiency, boost productivity, drive revenue and establish a
competitive advantage. We applaud this year's winners, and the CIOs and other
executives whose ingenuity and risk-taking are at the center of business
technology innovation."

InformationWeek's annual 500 list identifies and honors the nation's most
innovative users of information technology. Now in its 21st year, the list
also tracks the technology, strategies, investments and administrative
practices of America's best-known companies. Top winners have included Conway,
National Semiconductor, Kimberly-Clark, Hilton Hotels and Unum. The
InformationWeek 500 rankings are unique among corporate rankings because they
spotlight the power of innovation in information technology, rather than
simply identifying the biggest IT spenders.

Additional details about the InformationWeek 500 can be found online at
www.informationweek.com/iw500/.


About Aflac (http://www.aflac.com)

For more than 50 years, Aflac products have given policyholders the
opportunity to direct cash where it is needed most when a life-interrupting
medical event causes financial challenges. As the number one provider of
guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States and the number one
insurance company in terms of individual insurance policies in force in Japan,
Aflac insurance products provide protection to more than 40 million people
worldwide. In 2009, Aflac was recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the
World's Most Ethical Companies for the third consecutive year and was also
named by the Reputation Institute as the Most Reputable Company in the Global
Insurance Industry for the second consecutive year. In 2009 Fortune magazine
recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for
the eleventh consecutive year. Fortune magazine also ranked Aflac No. 1 on its
global list of the Most Admired Companies in the Life and Health Insurance
category. Aflac appears on Hispanic Enterprise magazine's list of the 50 Best
Companies for Supplier Diversity and on Black Enterprise magazine's list of
the 40 Best Companies for Diversity. Aflac was also named by Forbes magazine
as America's Best-Managed Company in the Insurance category. Aflac
Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com.


About InformationWeek Business Technology Network
(http://www.informationweek.com/)

The InformationWeek Business Technology Network provides IT executives with
unique analysis and tools that parallel their work flow -- from the defining
and framing of objectives through to the evaluation and recommendation of
solutions. Anchored by InformationWeek, the multimedia powerhouse that looks
across the enterprise, the network scales across the most critical technology
categories with online properties like DarkReading.com (security),
IntelligentEnterprise.com (application architecture), Network Computing
(networking and communications) and PlugintotheCloud.com (cloud computing).
The network also provides focused content for key IT targets, such as CIOs,
developers, and SMBs with Dr. Dobb's InformationWeek Global CIO and
bMighty.com, as well as vital vertical industries with InformationWeek
Financial Services, Government and Healthcare. With content at the nucleus of
our information distribution strategy, IT professionals turn to our network of
expert voices, research and communities to stay informed, get advice and
research technologies to make strategic business decisions.

About TechWeb (http://www.techweb.com/aboutus)
TechWeb, the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative
business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and
marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media
brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million*
business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created
around our global face-to-face events Interop; Web 2.0; Black Hat and
VoiceCon; online resources such as the InformationWeek.com, Light Reading,
Intelligent Enterprise, bMighty.com, and Advanced Trading; and the market
leading, award-winning InformationWeek, and Wall Street and Technology
magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from
next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, market research and
analyst services.
TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news
distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization
of more than $2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections
across TechWeb brands.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090422/CL03654LOGO )

Media Contact:
Tim Turner
Public Relations Analyst
706.243.5594
trturner@aflac.com

Software Complies with Updated Interoperability Requirements

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Certification Commission
for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT(R)) today announced that
gloStream's product gloEMR version 5.0 is a CCHIT Certified(R) 08 Ambulatory
EHR additionally certified for Cardiovascular Medicine and Child Health and
meets the Certification Commission's electronic health record (EHR) criteria
for office-based use. Ambulatory EHRs are designed for physician offices and
clinics where most Americans get their healthcare. The Commission - a private,
nonprofit organization - is the recognized certification body in the United
States for certifying health information technology products.

"Two key new areas of interoperability are required to achieve 08
certification," said Mark Leavitt, M.D., Ph.D., chair, CCHIT. "First,
ambulatory EHRs must be capable of advanced electronic prescribing functions
so physicians can qualify for bonuses under Medicare's new incentive program.
Second, EHRs must be able to send and receive an electronic patient summary.
These and other new criteria will ensure that certified health IT products
help improve quality, safety and efficiency while protecting the privacy of
health information."

In the third year of the program's operation, the criteria and testing have
been significantly updated again to provide physicians with more assurance
that certified products will meet their needs for functionality,
interoperability and security. The Commission added 19 criteria to the 200
required in 2007. Those changes were focused on the ability to exchange
patient information with other systems. A CCHIT Certified 08 Ambulatory EHR
ensures:

-- Additional electronic prescribing features: access to the
patient's medication history, formulary, and eligibility.
-- Better and safer medication dosing, adjusted for patient weight and
other factors.
-- Better ability to prevent adverse reactions due to drug interactions
or
allergies.
-- Use of standard formats to exchange basic patient information for
continuity of care.
-- Enhanced ability to view X-rays and other diagnostic images.
-- Better management of patient consents and authorizations.

-- Increased use of standard formats when receiving and storing
laboratory
results.


As a CCHIT Certified product, gloEMR has been tested and passed inspection of
100 percent of these new criteria.


We're thrilled to have achieved certification each year that CCHIT has been in
existence and we're committed to maintaining the highest standards for product
functionality, interoperability and security," said Mike Sappington,
gloStream's CEO. "As the only Microsoft Office-embedded electronic health
record and practice management solution supported by a network of local
technology partners, gloStream is the best choice for doctors seeking a
flexible and easy-to-use system that they can customize to the way they
practice medicine."

The CCHIT Certified "seal of approval" for EHR products provides a
consensus-based, government-recognized benchmark for ambulatory EHR products.
By looking to products with the CCHIT Certified seal, physicians and other
providers can reduce their risk in selecting an EHR product, allowing them to
focus their evaluation on the special needs of their practices.

About gloStream
gloStream provides physicians and healthcare facilities with certified
electronic medical record and practice management solutions delivered and
supported through a nationwide network of local technology partners. gloStream
products are secure, easy-to-use applications and the only EMR and PM
solutions on the market embedded with Microsoft Office. Through a simple user
interface, robust voice recognition technology, and single-click access to all
patient information, gloStream products help doctors improve patient care by
streamlining workflow and creating efficiencies in office administration. For
more information, visit www.glostream.com or call 1-877-456-3671.

About CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT(R))
is a private, nonprofit organization that has been named by the federal
government as the Recognized Certification Body for health information
technology. Its mission is to accelerate the adoption of health information
technology by creating a credible, sustainable certification program. The
certification requirements are based on widely accepted industry standards and
involve the work of hundreds of expert volunteers and input from a variety of
stakeholders throughout the health care industry. More information on CCHIT
and CCHIT Certified(R) products is available at www.cchit.org and at
www.ehrdecisions.com.

"CCHIT(R)" and "CCHIT Certified(R)" are registered marks of the Certification
Commission for Healthcare Information Technology.