MaSSSoftech

By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY
More skilled immigrants are giving up their American dreams to pursue careers back home, raising concerns that the U.S. may lose its competitive edge in science, technology and other fields.

ECONOMY: Driving emigration

"What was a trickle has become a flood," says Duke University's Vivek Wadhwa, who studies reverse immigration.

Wadhwa projects that in the next five years, 100,000 immigrants will go back to India and 100,000 to China, countries that have had rapid economic growth.

"For the first time in American history, we are experiencing the brain drain that other countries experienced," he says.

Suren Dutia, CEO of TiE Global, a worldwide network of professionals who promote entrepreneurship, says the U.S. economy will suffer without these skilled workers. "If the country is going to maintain the kind of economic well-being that we've enjoyed for many years, that requires having these incredibly gifted individuals who have been educated and trained by us," he says.

Wadhwa surveyed 1,203 Indian and Chinese immigrants who had worked or been educated here before returning to their homelands and found the exodus has less to do with the faltering U.S. economy than with other factors:

•Career opportunities. At NIIT, an information technology company based in New Delhi, about 10% of managers in India are returnees, mostly from the U.S., says CEO Vijay Thadani.

Most go into mid- to senior management and make "excellent employees," he says. "They're Indian, so they understand India, and they have lived outside the country."

China's government entices some skilled workers to return with incentives such as financial assistance and housing, says Wang Baodong, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington. "China needs a lot of well-trained personnel" in fields such as finance and information technology, he says.

•Quality of life and family ties. People return to India to reconnect with their families and culture, Dutia says. "They have a support system there, family and friends."

Purchasing power is greater, he says, which allows returnees to afford more luxuries than they did in the U.S. Dutia describes a complex of "magnificent homes" in Bangalore. In the club room, there were "all these Americans and Europeans and expats on the treadmills with iPhones, watching CNN and BBC," he says. "Things have changed."

•Immigration delays. Multinational companies that belong to the American Council on International Personnel tell Executive Director Lynn Shotwell that skilled immigrants are discouraged by the immigration process, she says. Some can wait up to a decade for permanent residency, she says. "They're frustrated with having an uncertain immigration status," she says. "They're giving up."

It has taken two months longer than he hoped, but Communications and Information Technology Minister Steven Joyce has announced the ground rules of the Government's plan to lay ultra-fast broadband fibre-optic cable to 75 per cent of the population. In doing so he has rejected several proposals from private operators, singly or jointly, who believe they could use some of the $1.5 billion on offer to more effectively advance the Government's aims.

Not only has he rejected them but the ground rules now exclude any telecommunications retailer from more than a minority participation in the local fibre companies that will lay the cable, own and operate it. If Telecom wants to be a full partner it will need to sever its retailing business entirely, a step it has long resisted and still seems unlikely to take.

It can maintain its copper network monopoly for the best part of 10 years before the fibre service begins to match it. The next step in the Government's plan is to establish a company, to be called Crown Fibre Holdings, to manage the state's outlay. Its first task will be to select private sector partners in each region to set up the local fibre companies, effectively wholesalers for use of the "dark fibre" by internet service providers and others.

While the prospect of network competition is welcome, economic considerations cannot be ignored. An outlay of $1.5 billion is a significant commitment of public funds and it is intended to entice a similar commitment from the private sector. These are resources that ought to flow to purposes of greatest economic value, which ultra-fast broadband could be but it has not passed the market tests.

Mr Joyce freely admits the Government is making this investment because private companies have decided fibre-to-the-home is not commercially worthwhile at this time. Tellingly, Crown Fibre Holdings cannot be set up as a state-owned enterprise because it will have some non-commercial objectives. Some of the first beneficiaries of ultra-fast broadband to 33 population districts will be schools and health clinics. That is unlikely to boost national productivity.

It might always be hard to measure the returns on this investment; how fast does information need to travel? It is not apparent that anyone is missing export opportunities at present internet speeds. But all comparable countries are planning ultra-fast broadband for fear they might be left behind. To doubt its value sounds dangerously Luddite.

But if the infrastructure is worthwhile, access to it must carry wholesale charges that reflect its full cost. If that causes it to be underused in competition with existing networks, so be it. The country would be better served by the most economical wiring rather than a subsidised luxury that drives economic operations out of business.

The finalised plan announced last week has modified the proposal put out for discussion in March. It provides more flexibility for potential users of the open cable, envisages coverage of more population centres, gives specific design requirements for retail products that will be permitted access and includes more commercial and technical detail.

Now it remains to be seen what sort of partners the Government attracts. It is not making its offer entirely to the private sector. Local government, iwi, trusts, are also eligible. And they can have an interest in more than one local fibre company.

If all goes to plan it could change the shape of telecommunications and other line services that might share the "pipe". At the very least it will end Telecom's dominance and that, for many, would be $1.5 billion well spent.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama travels to New York on Monday to promote his strategy to improve the U.S. economy by spending on education and innovation, as he shifts his focus from healthcare reform to a week of diplomacy and international economic issues.

Obama will talk about his strategy, building on more than $100 billion in economic stimulus funds, as well as regulatory and other initiatives, in a speech at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, a city in eastern New York 140 miles north of New York City, the White House said in a statement.

The plan includes developing an advanced information technology system, restoring U.S. leadership in basic research, improving education, development of clean energy, advanced vehicle technology and information technology for use in healthcare, and promotion of U.S. exports, the statement said.

"For this purpose, government has a key role to play. A modern, practical approach recognizes both the need for government to lay the foundations for innovation and the hazards of overzealous government intervention," it said.

The statement echoed Obama's recent calls to broadly develop the U.S. economy, rather than spending on one sector, such as finance or consumer spending.

"Explosive growth in one sector of the economy has provided a short-term boost while masking long-term weaknesses," it said.

Obama has sought in recent weeks to highlight the signs of an improving economy to try to boost his popularity, which has suffered amid a heated debate over his plan to overhaul the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system.

He was traveling to New York City later on Monday day for the start of his biggest week on the world stage.

The nuclear dispute with Iran and the Afghan war will be among the top issues as Obama begins three days of U.N. meetings on Tuesday. He will lay out his foreign policy vision in his first speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.

In the shadow of a financial meltdown that triggered fears of another Great Depression, Obama will host a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 world's biggest economies on Thursday and Friday in Pittsburgh. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, editing by Chris Wilson)

Canadian courts and government have approved the dismantling of one of Canada's last technology champions, underscoring fears that the country is falling behind in high-tech.

Canadian and U.S. courts last week cleared the sale of Nortel Networks Corp.'s giant business-phone unit to U.S. telecom-equipment maker Avaya Inc.

Meanwhile, Canada's industry minister said the government wouldn't challenge the sale of Nortel's other big unit, with its wireless operations, to Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson. BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd., based in Waterloo, Ontario, had demanded the Canadian government block that sale on the grounds that it would harm national security.

SHANGHAI, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Dragon Capital Group Corp (Pink Sheets: DRGV), a leading holding company of emerging high-tech companies in China, announced today that Toro Research is initiating coverage of Dragon Capital Group Corp. (Pink Sheets: DRGV) with a speculative "Buy" recommendation and a performance rating of 8, on a scale of 10.

According to the report, our recommendation is based primarily on the company's revenue performance for the first half of 2009 as it relates to current market trends in the Asian region, as well as the company's historical performance and additional outside factors such as recovering Chinese economy and expanding growth in the country's Information Technology and Telecommunications sectors. For more details, please visit http://www.dragoncapital.us. The following is an abstract for the research report.

Comparative Market Trends:

Dragon Capital Group reported (unaudited) revenue for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009 was $15.0 million, a 27% increase over the $11.8 million recorded in the second quarter of 2008. The company's revenue stream are currently derived from electronics hardware distribution and network integration. The 27% increase during the second quarter, as well as 20% for the first six months of 2009, seems to be defying current market trends in the region, from even some of largest players in the Information Technology industry.

Hewlett Packard, the world's largest technology company, with a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, reported in July that Second Quarter revenue declined 10% in Asia-Pacific. When adjusted for the effects of currency the decline was 5%. IBM reported Second Quarter Asia-Pacific revenues decreased 7 percent (5 percent, adjusting for currency) and Dell said Asian revenue was down sharply during the second quarter, falling 21 percent compared to last year.

However, it is important to note that many of these large Information Technology companies operating in the region are seeing improvements in 2009. On August 28th, 2009, Dell, said it hopes to see revenue grow on an annual basis from 2010, driven by increasing demand from China and India. "China appears to be emerging fastest out of the financial crisis," Steve Felice, Dell's president for small and medium business, told reporters on a conference call.

Industry Overview: Technology and China's Ascent

Over the past 30 years, China has been the fastest growing nation in the world, achieving year-after-year, an average annual GDP growth rate of around 9% to 10%. And even in the face of one of the deepest global recessions since World War II, China's economy continues to show resilience as the country's recovery continues to gather steam. In July 2009, China reported that Gross-Domestic-Product growth reached 7.9% in the second quarter, just below the 8.1% goal the government set for growth in 2009, and well above the 6.1% seen in the first quarter.

This steadfast growth and economic development, together with a population of well over 1.3 billion people, has placed China as one of the fastest growing telecommunications and information technology markets in the world. And the availability for growth in these sectors seems limitless.

Take for example the Chinese Mobile Telecommunications Industry, one of the largest in the world. In April 2009, statistics from the country's carriers showed that China had almost 648 million mobile users after adding 26.7 million subscribers in the first quarter. However, Third Generation (3G) wireless technology is just now beginning to take hold, as the government, aimed at restructuring the domestic telecom industry, awarded 3G licenses to the top three carriers in January 2009. The move has since then spurred a wave of new investments, and aggressive development and deployment of telecommunication infrastructure throughout the country.

Conclusion:

As Dragon Capital Group continues to focus on the development of its subsidiaries, and capitalize on their individual innovative technological offerings, the company seems to be working towards taking a commanding position in China's high-tech sector in 2009 and beyond. The company's established operating history and proven track record of success has been evident, especially 2009, as it continues to post increases in sales at time when most others are reporting significant declines throughout the region. And finally as China continues to lead the way in economic recovery, and sign of improvements continue to materialize, we believe that Dragon Capital should be able to capitalize on the tremendous growth potential of the economic rebound.

However, it is important to note that, while the upside potential certainly exist for (OTC: DRGV), the company does face general business and operating risks, such as the competitive nature of the Information Technology and Electronics industry, a continued downturn or stagnation in the economic environment of China, changes in the political and economic policies and reforms of the Chinese government, as well as the fact that most of Dragon Capital's subsidiaries and assets are based in China, outside the jurisdiction of any legal system of the US. Investors are urged to be cautious and perform their own due diligence before making any investment in Dragon Capital Group (OTC: DRGV)

About Dragon Capital Group Corp.

Dragon Capital Group Corp (Pink Sheets: DRGV) is doing business in China through its subsidiaries. Dragon was established to serve as a conduit between Chinese high-growth companies and Western investors. DRGV functions as an incubator of high-tech companies in China, offering support in the critical functions of general business consulting, formation of joint ventures, access to capital, merger acquisition, business valuation, and revenue growth strategies. DRGV has developed a portfolio of high-tech companies operating in China. For more information about DRGV, please visit http://www.dragoncapital.us

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements set forth in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate, or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain the word expressions of similar meaning. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the company's actual results and financial position to differ materially from those included within the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the Company's ability to grow its business. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance.

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Sep 21, 2009 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- PASO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Patient Access Solutions, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PASO), a leading provider of healthcare/financial processing solutions for the healthcare, homecare, nursing LTNC and dental industries, today announced that the Company has started working and marketing to sell D-PAS digital pen products to various government and military agencies. The Company has introduced the D-PAS digital pen technology to the Veterans Health Administration for use in its Point of Care pilot program at selected VA hospitals. Additionally, there has been introduction to the U.S. Military Health System and the U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force.

Working with Brigadier General Uri (Tony) French, U.S. Army (Retired), PAS is drawing on established relationships and continuously building new ones among buyers and senior personnel of the military and the government.

State and local governments, using money provided under the economic stimulus law, will increase spending on health care information technology over the next few years, according to a report from the market research firm Input. The state and local market for the technology is expected to grow to $9.6 billion by 2014, from $7.6 billion in 2009, a compound growth rate of 4.6 percent, the report states.

State and local agencies also are investing in electronic health records systems, which are a primary component of health IT. Their spending on such systems is projected to expand from $850 million this year to $1.85 billion in 2014, according to Input's "Health IT Transformation: FY2009-FY2014 State and Local Market Forecast," which was released Aug. 26.

"Working with General French provides PAS with an important opportunity to tap into two huge markets, the government and the military. We believe that our products could be quite useful for active duty personnel as well as veterans, both in the healthcare and non-healthcare environments," stated Bruce Weitzberg, CEO and President of Patient Access Solutions. "The goal of PAS is to capture a percentage of this spending by leveraging the technology they currently offer, with integration into currently used products."

About Patient Access Solutions Inc.(www.pashealth.com)

Patient Access Solutions Inc. (PASHealth) is a Healthcare Solutions company which has created a formidable array of technology, resources and allies to enable it to become an agent of radical change in what has traditionally been a slowly evolving healthcare environment. For more information about the services and products of Patient Access Solutions, please visit our website at www.pashealth.com.

Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the companies, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among other things, the following: general economic and business conditions; competition; unexpected changes in technologies and technological advances; ability to commercialize and manufacture products; results of experimental studies; research and development activities; changes in, or failure to comply with, governmental regulations; and the ability to obtain adequate financing in the future. This information is qualified in its entirety by cautionary statements and risk factors disclosure contained in certain of Patient Access Solutions Inc. Securities and Exchange Commission filings available at http://www.sec.gov.

This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com

A key ingredient to health care reform is becoming reality with little fanfare and a lot of federal stimulus money.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources estimates that $48.8 billion in recovery funds will be spent on health care information technology.

Those dollars include grants to deploy regional health information networks, money to providers so they might tie into them, as well as funds to ensure — in the bureaucracy’s words — that meaningful use is made of the data.

Physicians are in line for stimulus money, too — $44,000 each to reimburse them for turning their patients’ paper charts into electronic medical records. Prescribing drugs electronically will net them a bonus. Tying into a network that other providers, and ultimately the patient, can access may net them more.

Those are the carrots.

The stick for providers who don’t make the leap is reductions in payment for treatments under the government’s Medicare insurance program for senior citizens.

The new urgency follows by five years the announcement of an ambitious plan to create the East Tennessee Health Information Network to allow hospital systems and ultimately other health care providers to share information through a centralized data bank, thereby improving patient care, increasing efficiency and cutting costs.

Knoxville’s hospital systems put $480,000 into the project, and its first effort was to enable images to be electronically exchanged between hospitals.

And then the project stalled.

Attempts to secure venture capital dried up when talk of health care reform started and questions were left unanswered about how to sustain such networks.

Leaders of that effort are now working with a new nonprofit organization created by the state, the Health Information Partnership for Tennessee, to secure funding to get the network working on a broader scale.

Creating the local network will cost $2.5 million to $3 million, and another $3 million over the next three years. Annual operating costs are estimated at between $300,000 to $400,000, said Mike Ward, chief information officer of Covenant Health and board member of the regional network, since redubbed the Innovation Valley Health Information Network.

East Tennessee’s budget request is being forwarded to the state, which “will roll up its request to the federal level by the end of September, and we are hoping we might get stimulus money by the end of the year, although it could be middle of next year before the money is released,” Ward said.

Employers are going to be asked to chip in, too, having been identified as beneficiaries of such a system and the likely sources for the matching dollars needed to garner government grants to get the network up and running.

“We are laying a plan to approach the employer community,” Ward said. “We expect to have to come up with $750,000 to $800,000 to get in the game.”


Who benefits, who pays?

What stalled the network initially were the unanswered questions: Who benefits? Who should pay?

Measuring how much the initiative would reduce costs — particularly savings to those contributing to its upkeep — proved to be a stumbling point.

They’re still tough questions.

“That’s always been the elusive problem — Who should pay for this paradigm shift? There’s a lot of theories, but not a lot of people want to fund theories,” said Dennis Corley, chief executive officer of Digital Crossing, the data center in downtown Knoxville that was chosen to house the initial network.

There’s no question that the effort improves patient care — and that in turn may save individuals money in the short term and society money in the long term — but no one expects donors to see a quick, measurable return on their investment.

The hope is that what’s learned by studying the data — the meaningful use — will ultimately yield savings. Electronic records that can be easily shared among providers — and accessed by patients themselves — will produce less testing, better management of drug use and less duplication of care, proponents argue.

“There is so much variation in the community that no one individual or institution can see the benefit, but after we have been at meaningful use for two or three years, we’ll see it’s great to have this connectivity,” Ward said.

Employers, particularly, will have better access to data on whether employees are managing their health and the ability to develop appropriate rewards and punishments based on that behavior. Many employers are already adjusting employees’ insurance premiums, for example, for participating in medical screenings and signing up with third-party consultants to discuss the results.

“Smokers are going to have to pay more because they are costing everyone more … but we have to get to the data exchange first, improved outcomes second, and what I am talking about is five to seven years away where we can look at preventive maintenance and health management,” Ward said.

“If there’s no money, there’s no mission. We will have to get to the point that we’re saving dollars and improving the quality of care.”

Tom Tarver, president of LBMC’s eHealth Solutions, doesn’t expect electronic medical records to save physicians money or allow them to see significantly more patients each day. But the technology should improve patient care.

“There’s a lot of qualitative reasons for doing it,” he says. “It’s kind of like religion — you just have to have faith.”

Mark Field, a vice president of the Knoxville Chamber and former insurance company executive, has been involved with the local network since its inception.

He says there’s an economic development component to the effort — being able to tout Knoxville as a community that’s addressing health care costs and quality “could be another feather in our cap” as the region competes for new jobs.


Rocky road to travel

Regardless of the benefits or savings, migrating data from paper to the computer is a boon to information technology companies, as well as consultants in an array of fields.

“We are being extremely proactive because health care is a large piece of our business in each of our companies,” said Stacy Schuettler, president of LBMC Technologies, whose sister companies focus on a range of financial services and human resources.

The promise of stimulus money is trickling down from health care providers to companies providing computer hardware and software, training, data analysis, work flow advice and what it means to garner “meaningful use” from the technology so they can be assured of a federal reimbursement for their investment.

“It’s really a paradigm shift on so many different levels, and it’s being thrown at them like you drink water through a fire hydrant,” said.

Unlike other sectors — distribution, manufacturing and retail — health care has been a slow adopter of technology, except for clinical use.

And the required capital investment comes at a time when hospitals and physicians are feeling the pinch of a recession, with an increasing number of patients unable to pay medical bills and even more postponing treatments they view as elective.

Schuettler said her company is pitching shared-service software, an increasingly popular business solution that doesn’t require the purchase of expensive servers — just an Internet portal.

Ron Jenkins, chief operating officer of Saratoga Technologies, said his firm is looking at offering a lease package to physicians wary of making a huge investment.

“We offer the solution and the hardware and are partnering with a company that does the EMR software and the training,” he says. “We will do the ongoing support.”

He worries, however, that many physicians are moving too slowly.

“This product has to be in use and fully operational or they won’t get their money,” Jenkins said. “If we don’t start installing some of these now, you won’t have enough trainers to train people.”


Maryville group ahead of the innovation curve

East Tennessee Medical Group, a Maryville-based multi-specialty organization with 45 health care providers, began converting charts to electronic medical records three years ago.

“The majority of our physicians are on electronic medical records, but some of them are in different stages,” said Ron German, the physician group’s CEO. “We just don’t have the IT staff to implement this all at one time.”

German extolls the virtues of the system — not having to file paper charts, not having them misplaced — and says patients see the benefit as X-rays and other diagnostic tests that can easily be accessed, with no wait, to primary-care physicians and specialists within the group. If drugs or medical devices have been recalled, it’s much easier to identify patients who may be using them. Monitoring when patients need to return for laboratory work or other procedures is also simplified.

The practice has begun using the data, as well, to study treatments and outcomes for diabetic patients and those with heart disease.

He estimates the group has spent about $30,000 per physician.

The group, however, will have to chuck its software because it’s neither certified under the new standards nor does it offer the means to prescribe drugs electronically.

As a larger group by East Tennessee standards, East Tennessee Medical Group is still farther down the road than many of its peers.

Dr. Mark Browne, a physician and principal with the consulting firm Pershing, Yoakley and Associates, said some of the reticence among providers is that converting paper charts to electronic records represents more than simply typing them into a computer.

“Frequently it takes a period of time to work out all the kinks,” Browne says. “And in the meantime there’s a combination of a decrease in volume and increased length in accounts receivable that has a significant impact on the practice’s cash flow.”

Browne and Tarver both use automobile analogies to describe the shift.

Tarver says the ramp-up is much like the creation of the interstate system — it was expensive, messy and inconvenient during construction, but the results were worth it.

Browne compares the change to seat belt use — if seat belts were only mandated for Buicks, for example, the impact would be negligible. But mandating seat belts in every vehicle, and that drivers and passengers use them, has a significant impact.

Amy Nolan is editor of the Greater Knoxville Business Journal.

University of Missouri Health Care is now negotiating with the Kansas City-based Cerner Corp., administrators have confirmed.

However, it does not appear an agreement with the company has been reached, according to a statement that Harold Williamson, vice chancellor for health sciences, and James Ross, CEO of MU Health, released to the Tribune late Friday.

MU Health information technology workers have been worried for months that their jobs could be outsourced to Cerner, considered one of the leading health information technology providers.

Several employees have said supervisors told them different Cerner-related stories, but mostly workers have been kept in the dark.

Williamson and Ross said employees would be notified “promptly” if a Cerner agreement is made.

“We have a talented information technology workforce at the health system with unique skills that are critical to the success of future initiatives we may undertake with Cerner,” they wrote. “The retention of our talented workforce is one of the principal points of our discussions, and we are committed to providing a favorable employment opportunity for each employee.”

MU Health IT workers saw Williamson’s and Ross’ statement Friday but weren’t reassured. Talk of favorable employment opportunities “pretty much confirms to us that we are gone,” one health system IT worker said, asking to remain unidentified.

Some staff members also were surprised that UM System President Gary Forsee’s name wasn’t mentioned in the statement. He is thought to have initiated the negotiations.

Forsee has several business and personal ties to the company. He previously served as CEO of Sprint, which works closely with Cerner. Forsee and Cerner CEO Neal Patterson serve together on at least two boards of trustees, and online records indicate Forsee’s son-in-law, Brandon Bell, works for Cerner.

The university has a longstanding relationship with Cerner. The company provides hardware products for the hospital and has an educational partnership with the MU School of Medicine.

Current discussions would “result in a significant investment in our health information technology and identify ways that we can collaborate on a range of new initiatives,” Williamson and Ross wrote. “If an agreement is reached, it will accelerate the integration of a comprehensive, cutting-edge electronic health record across our entire health system.”

* Complementary Strengths Enhance Dell`s IT Services Portfolio, Perot Systems`
Global Reach
* Companies Together Represent $8 Billion in Services Revenue
* Acquisition Expected to Be Accretive to GAAP Earnings in Fiscal 2012

ROUND ROCK, Texas & PLANO, Texas--(Business Wire)--
Dell and Perot Systems have entered a definitive agreement for Dell to acquire
Perot Systems in a transaction valued at approximately $3.9 billion. Terms of
the agreement were approved yesterday by the boards of directors of both
companies.

The acquisition will result in a compelling combination of two iconic
information-technology brands. The expanded Dell will be even better positioned
for immediate and long-term growth and efficiency driven by:

* Providing a broader range of IT services and solutions and optimizing how
they`re delivered;
* Extending the reach of Perot Systems` capabilities, including in the most
dynamic customer segments, around the world; and,
* Supplying leading Dell computer systems to even more Perot Systems customers.

Complementary Capabilities

Dell and Perot Systems share several key characteristics and our products,
services and structures are overwhelmingly complementary. They have similarly
strong, relationship-based business cultures. People in both organizations are
recognized for helping customers thrive by using IT for greater effectiveness
and productivity. The combination also provides some compelling opportunities
for improved efficiency, which will benefit our customers even further.

Dell`s global commercial customer base spans large corporations, government
agencies, health-care providers, educational institutions, and small and medium
enterprises (SME). The company`s large existing services business includes
breakthroughs in the concept and delivery of modular services, as well as
expertise in infrastructure consulting and software-as-a-service. Dell is a
leader in computer systems, including standards-based network servers, and in
the fast-growing segment of data-storage hardware.

Perot Systems provides world-class services, including in applications,
technology, infrastructure, business processes and consulting. The company is a
leading provider to clients in health-care, government and other commercial
segments, from SMEs to the largest global institutions. Perot Systems has a
large and growing base of customers and service-delivery capabilities in North
America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Asia.

Over the past four quarters Dell and Perot Systems had a combined $16 billion in
enterprise-hardware and IT-services revenue, with about $8 billion from enhanced
services and support.

Tender Offer, Closing and Initial Integration

Under the terms of the agreement, Dell will commence a tender offer to acquire
all of the outstanding Class A common stock of Perot Systems for $30 per share
in cash. The transaction is not subject to a financing condition. The
transaction, which is subject to customary government approvals and the
satisfaction of other customary conditions, is expected to close in Dell`s
November-January fiscal quarter.

Once the acquisition is complete, Perot Systems will become Dell`s services unit
and be led from Plano by Peter Altabef, the current Perot Systems chief
executive officer. At the same time, Dell directors are expected to consider
Ross Perot Jr., Perot Systems` chairman of the board, for appointment to the
Dell board. Based on current estimates, the transaction is expected to be
accretive to Dell`s GAAP earnings in its fiscal 2012.

To hear a related analysts call with Dell and Perot Systems executives ("live"
at 8:30 A.M. EDT today, then later via replay), go to www.dell.com/investor.

Quotes:

Michael Dell, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Dell: "We
consider Perot Systems to be a premium asset with great people that enhances our
opportunities for immediate and long-term growth. This significantly expands
Dell`s enterprise-solutions capabilities and makes Perot Systems` strengths
available to even more customers around the world. There will be efficiencies
from combining the companies, but the acquisition makes such great sense because
of the obvious ways our businesses complement each other."

Ross Perot Jr., Chairman of the Board, Perot Systems: "This transaction
represents a great opportunity for our company and our associates. Today`s
announcement is the next step in formalizing a relationship that has flourished
for some time. When my father founded Perot Systems he envisioned a global
information-technology leader. The new, larger Dell builds on that promise and
its own successes by taking Perot Systems` expertise to more customers than
ever."

About DELL

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology
and services they need and value. For more information, visit www.dell.com.
Investors wishing to communicate directly with Dell may go to
www.dell.com/dellshares.

About Perot Systems

Perot Systems Corporation (NYSE: PER) 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
www.perotsystems.com.

Special Note:

The planned tender offer described in this release has not yet commenced.The
description contained in this release is not an offer to buy or the solicitation
of an offer to sell securities. At the time the planned tender offer is
commenced,Dell will file a tender offer statement on Schedule TO with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and Perot Systems will file a
solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 with respect to the
planned tender offer. The tender offer statement (including an offer to
purchase, a related letter of transmittal and other tender offer documents) and
the solicitation/recommendation statement will contain important information
that should be read carefully before making any decision to tender securities in
the planned tender offer. Those materials will be made available to Perot
System`s stockholders at no expense to them.In addition, all of those materials
(and all other tender offer documents filed with the SEC) will be made available
at no charge on the SEC's website: www.sec.gov.

Statements in this release that relate to future results and events are
forward-looking statements based on Dell's and Perot Systems` current
expectations, respectively. Actual results and events in future periods may
differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements because of a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors. All
statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be
deemed forward-looking statements, including the expected benefits and costs of
the transaction; management plans relating to the transaction; the expected
timing of the completion of the transaction; the ability to complete the
transaction; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of
management for future operations, including the execution of integration plans;
any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions
underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include
the possibility that expected benefits may not materialize as expected; that the
transaction may not be timely completed, if at all; that, prior to the
completion of the transaction, Perot Systems` business may experience
disruptions due to transaction-related uncertainty or other factors making it
more difficult to maintain relationships with employees, licensees, other
business partners or governmental entities; that the parties are unable to
successfully implement integration strategies; and other risks that are
described in Dell`s and Perot Systems` Securities and Exchange Commission
reports, including but not limited to the risks described in Dell`s Annual
Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended January 30, 2009 and Perot
Systems` Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008.
Dell and Perot Systems assume no obligation and do not intend to update these
forward-looking statements.

DELL is a trademark of DELL Inc.

Perot Systems is a trademark of Perot Systems Corp.

Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.



Dell
Media Relations:
David Frink, 512-728-2678
david_frink@dell.com
or
Jess Blackburn, 512-728-8295
jess_blackburn@dell.com
or
Investor Relations:
Robert Williams, 512-728-7570
robert_williams@dell.com
or
Shep Dunlap, 512-723-0341
shep_dunlap@dell.com
or
Perot Systems
Media Relations:
Marvin Singleton, 972-577-5881
marvin.singleton@ps.net
or
Investor Relations:
John Lyon, 972-577-6132
john.lyon@ps.net

AbilITy Connection Award Night recognizes achievements of information technology students and graduates with disabilities



Five individuals, including college students and graduates with disabilities who are pursing careers in information technology, will receive AbilITy Connection financial assistance awards during a program from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Briggs & Stratton Corporation, 12301 W. Wirth St., Wauwatosa. The students and graduates’ mentors also will be recognized for their support.



The AbilITy Connection financial assistance awards support individuals with disabilities who are working toward or who have completed information technology degrees. The awards are offered to help overcome obstacles to continued education and the search for employment.



The individuals receiving awards are:



- John Blimke, who attends Waukesha County Technical College and lives in Waukesha, Wis.



- Noelle Romashko, who holds an associate’s degree in Computer Programming from Milwaukee Area Technical College and lives in Waukesha, Wis.



- Andrew Stasey, who holds associate’s degrees in Computer Information Technology (Network Specialist and Microcomputer Specialist) from Waukesha County Technical College and lives in Waukesha, Wis.



- Larry Taylor, who holds an associate’s degree in Computer Electronics from Milwaukee Area Technical College, is working on an additional IT Programmer/Analyst associate’s degree and who lives in Milwaukee.



- Chuck Tripi, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an associate’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Milwaukee Area Technical College and who lives in Brookfield, Wis.



AbilITy Connection, a program of Goodwill Industries, is designed to keep pace with the ever-changing and challenging field of information technology. The program offers mentoring, internships, financial assistance awards and job placement services to students and recent graduates with disabilities who are interested in pursuing information technology careers. Through dedicated professionals who serve as mentors, individuals receive the guidance, experience and insight to prepare them for future employment. Upon graduation from a college or technical school, the program’s Business Advisory Council members assist students in finding internships and full- and part-time employment.

Addis Ababa (September 21, 2009) – Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) and the Chinese Telecom Corporation, ZTE, recently signed a 10 million dollar agreement to construct part of the technological infrastructure of the long awaited Information Technology (IT) Park of the federal government.

The Ministry of Capacity Building first planned to build the IT-Park project, which is to be located behind Bole International Airport, some six years ago in collaboration with donors. However, the ministry had to distribute different phases of the project to various stockholders owing to donors’ failure to finance this huge project.

ETC was chosen to manage part of the project, which led the state-owned telecom provider to negotiate with ZTE so the latter can include the project in the 1.5 billion vendor financing program signed in 2006.

“This principal contract needs to be in place and signed at this moment in order to make sure that the IT-Park project are taken in to consideration within the vendor financing program,” reads the agreement signed by the two parties.

Detailed site surveys should be made to determine the exact price of the IP-Park infrastructure project. The two sides have agreed that a sum of 10 million dollar should be set aside from the remaining balance of the vendor financing projects until the survey is completed.
Currently, the partners are negotiating to verify which projects can be cancelled out of the remaining vendor financing projects that will cause minimum harm to the client and contractor. ETC and ZTE are expected to sign this agreement in October to commence the IT project. According to their agreement, ZTE is expected to build the Internet Protocol (IP) framework and will supply equipment such as routers and switchers. Building National Operating Center (NOC) which will be used to manage, maintain and operate the IT Park is also a job for ZTE, which is further expected to supply an internet protocol phone service with an integrated access device.

When the IT Park is completed it will give an opportunity for businesses willing to engage in IT manufacturing and the IT service industry to work in the same compound.

New Recognition Honors IT Executives for Influence, Innovation and Ability to
Collaborate with Integrators and Vendors

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Everything Channel, a
division of United Business Media, today announced the CIO 50 West winners, a
new recognition that honors IT executives for their influence, innovation and
ability to collaborate with integrators and vendors. The awards were
presented at Everything Channel's Midsize Enterprise Summit West 2009, which
took place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, CA.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090921/NY78146LOGO )

The CIO 50 West winners include:
1. Mohinder Chopra, SVP & CIO, OSI Systems
2. David Hudson, VP IT, Keenan & Associates
3. Tracy Cleeton, Director of IT, Saga Communications
4. Keenan Lersch, Technology Manager, American Railcar Industries
5. Thomas Smith, CTO, PSRS/PEERS of Missouri
6. Brad Cackler, IT Director, Micro Power Electronics
7. Dave McDowell, Director of IT, West Liberty Foods
8. Greg McLean, Director of Technical Services, Green Bay Packaging
9. Christopher Holda, Director, IT, Integrated Health Associates
10. Randy Nye, IT Manager, Oak Harbor Freight Lines, Inc.
11. Rita Lazar-Tippe, IS Manager, Edmonton Journal
12. Michael Gauthier, CIO, IMTT
13. Michelle George, First VP - Application Development, Securities
America
14. Nathan Church, VP & IT Manager, Columbia River Bank
15. Dave Ploch, CIO/Director, IT, Novus International
16. Greg Katers, Director of IT, Green Bay Packaging
17. David Chin, Director of IT, Stanford Hotels Corporation
18. David Price, IT Director, Resource Management, Inc.
19. Michael Brown, VP of IS, Peter Piper Pizza
20. Neil Stewart, Director Technical Operations, QuikTrip Corp
21. Dirk Anderson, VP Technology, C R England
22. Paul Dupree, CIO, Assistant VP of I.S., Asbury College
23. Bruce Hagen, VP Corporate IS, Bemis Manufacturing Co
24. Robert Bence, VP, Technology, Southwest Credit Systems
25. Larry Freed, Vice President & CIO, Atrium Companies, Inc.
26. Seth Hansen, VP - IT, Daktronics, Inc
27. David Cresswell, Director, IT Planning & Strategy, British Columbia
Institute of Technology
28. Lawrence Frederick, CIO, University of the Pacific
29. Raman Krishnaswami, Director, IT, Healthcare Benefit Trust
30. John DeLuca, Director of Information Technology, Hydranautics
31. Craig Crosby, Director, Information Services, Procopio, Cory,
Hargreaves
& Savitch LLP
32. Adam Farkas, VP IT, Crown Media
33. Leonardo Imana, Director of Technology, Adelman Travel Group
34. Sergey Bushlyar, CIO, IT Director, Paul Capital Partners
35. Neil Ferguson, Technology Director, Orrick, Herrington, & Sutclife
LLP
36. Peter Mills, Executive Director, Information Technology, Canadian
Tourism Commission
37. David Cropper, CIO, Mamiye Brothers
38. Susan Faulkner, Director, Information Systems and Technology, Bluewave
Energy
39. Eric Vlam, Director of Information Systems, Equipment Depot
40. Michael Gibbons, Director, Northeastern State University
41. Aaron Bukhari, CIO & CSO, SNC Lavalin Nuclear Inc.
42. Chris Daly, Director, Infrastructure & Application Support,
Corporation Service Company
43. Niel Nickolaisen, CIO, Headwaters, Inc.
44. Lawrence Frederick, CIO, University of the Pacific
45. Carl Gammon, Director, Information Systems, Minntech Corporation
46. James Fielder, Vice President Information Technology, Farm Credit
Services of Illinois
47. Matthew Sharp, Director of I.T., David and Lucile Packard Foundation
48. Brian Mackay, Associate VP and CIO, Thompson Rivers University
49. Nick Barakat, IT Manager, Clean Energy Fuels Corp

50. Gary Allen, Chief Technology Officer, Amarillo Independent School
District


The professionals comprising the CIO 50 West were chosen for their leadership
in utilizing technology to help increase corporate efficiencies, drive revenue
and achieve other key business goals within their midsize company or
organization. In particular, Everything Channel looked for executives with IT
decision-making ability and strong partnerships with integrators and
consultants. The size of the IT budget and the progress of ongoing IT projects
were also considered. Based on these criteria, Everything Channel's editorial
and content team identified today's leading customers.

"We are pleased to honor these IT executives for their influence, innovation
and ability to collaborate with integrators and vendors," said, Robert C.
DeMarzo, senior vice president and editorial director for Everything Channel
editorial. "Congratulations to the CIO 50 West winners on this well-deserved
achievement."

The Midsize Enterprise Summit brought senior IT Executives from midsize
businesses together with industry analysts and leading and emerging vendors.
The focus -- enabling strategic IT Decision-Making -- embraced
midmarket-specific issues, trends and solutions from a horizontal and vertical
industry-specific perspective. The business-intensive format included
analyst-led sessions, vendor-led world premiere and private boardroom
appointments, a showcase of exhibits, and networking functions.

About Everything Channel (www.everythingchannel.com, www.channelweb.com)
Everything Channel is the one-stop shop for managing and accelerating
technology sales. From branding and recruiting to marketing and sales,
Everything Channel offers technology marketers the unmatched breadth and depth
of global brands and market intelligence combined with unparalleled audience
loyalty and credibility serving all technology sales channels through an
extensive database. Everything Channel provides innovative field sales and
marketing solutions to arm the sellers of technology with the resources they
need to achieve measurable and significant results.

About United Business Media Limited (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com)
UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information
distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization
of B2B communities and markets. UBM's businesses inform markets and serve
professional commercial communities -- from doctors to game developers, from
journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists -- with integrated
events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in
more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these
communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business
and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.

Despite Economy, Organizations Face Significant Information Technology (IT)
Talent Gap: Deloitte Survey
To Address Both Short- and Long-Term IT Talent Challenges, Deloitte Offers
Recommendations to Organizations for Improved Talent Strategies and Execution

NEW YORK, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- According to new research from Deloitte, IT
functional leaders have an increasingly clear understanding of what they must
do to effectively support their organizations' business strategies. However,
existing IT talent strategies and programs appear to be falling short -
leaving IT without the talent necessary to do the job.

Based on a global survey of 306 IT decision-makers and executive business
managers, and 15 subsequent one-on-one interviews with select respondents,
current IT talent issues are having an impact on IT and business performance.
Based on the research, Deloitte identifies two major IT talent gaps: growing
talent gap for IT leaders and project managers; and the critical need for
improved IT talent strategies and program execution. Additional key findings
included:

-- The majority of survey respondents (51%) strongly believe talent
issues
have limited their organization's productivity and efficiency.


-- Half of the respondents say the talent shortage is limiting their
ability to innovate, which is the strategic core of the benefits that
technology can bring to a business.


-- Significant numbers of respondents indicate that IT talent issues are
having a material impact on other key dimensions of business success
--
growth (58%), speed to market (54%), quality (53%) and customer
relationships (53%).


-- The vast majority of IT organizations surveyed expect to expand their
workforces over the next three-to-five years. In fact, nearly half of
the respondents (47%) expect to see at least 5% annual growth in the
IT
workforce over that period -- even as the pool of experienced and
qualified IT workers in many countries gets smaller.


"Even in the midst of hiring freezes and layoffs, organizations continue to
face talent shortages in critical areas such as IT," said Jeff Schwartz,
principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "We believe differentiation is key when
trying to attract, develop and retain top IT talent. This means organizations
will need to revitalize their efforts and focus on areas such as company
brand, workforce flexibility, multi-generation workforce strategies, job
rotations, virtual management skills, improved on-boarding and accelerated
development."

Deloitte offers additional recommendations for organizations to consider as
they address current and future IT talent challenges:

-- Establish clear roles and responsibilities. CIOs and their management
teams need to own and lead the IT talent challenge. However, HR/talent
functional leaders and teams have significant opportunities to improve
their strategic partnership with IT by improving their capabilities
and
focusing on services that address the unique talent needs of the IT
function.


-- Improve workforce analysis and planning capabilities. Leverage
internal
and external data to provide clearer views of long-term talent trends,
both in terms of supply (e.g., demographics, baby boomer retirements
--
and longer time to retirement, education, and global labor markets)
and
demand (e.g., new business requirements and technology advances).


-- Refine global sourcing strategies. Explore innovative ways to manage a
diverse, global workforce that is increasingly comprised of
non-traditional resources, including contractors, outsourcing vendors,
retirees and offshore staff.


-- Strengthen alignment between IT and business priorities. Rotate people
from IT into the business and from the business into IT. In an
environment with significant outsourcing and global dispersion of IT
workforces, these rotation programs are even more important because
building and managing relationships with business units is one of the
retained IT team's primary responsibilities.


-- Learn how to manage a multi-sourced, global workforce. Without an
improved approach to sourcing and managing a global workforce, global
sourcing can be more of a hindrance than a help and organizations can
end up in challenging situations where sourced employees are
performing
roles that could be staffed internally and the sourced labor costs are
higher than they should be.


-- Pay more attention to on-boarding. In particular, companies should
focus
more effort on on-boarding for contractors and other non-traditional
resources. Current processes are generally designed to meet the needs
of
traditional in-house staff. That, however, is not what the IT
workforce
looks like any more.


For a full copy of this research report and for the latest information about
talent strategies, innovative talent and work solutions, please visit
Deloitte's Talent Management website. The Deloitte Review also recently
published a detailed article on retaining key talent as the economy improves.
The article entitled, "Where did our employees go? Examining the rise in
voluntary turnover during economic recoveries," can be found in Issue 5 at
www.deloittereview.com.

About the Survey
Deloitte, in collaboration with CIO, conducted a global survey of 306 IT
decision-makers and executive business managers at companies with revenues of
$500 million or more. Additional insights were obtained through personal
interviews with selected respondents.

The U.S. version of the survey was completed among qualified members of the
CIO audience. The Canadian, European, and Asia-Pacific versions of the survey
were completed among an international panel of IT and business professionals.
In addition, Deloitte conducted the survey among select companies in South
Africa. The survey was conducted between March 17, 2009 and April 1, 2009.

About Deloitte
As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte Consulting LLP and
Deloitte Services LP, subsidiaries of Deloitte LLP. Please see
www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of
Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.

Ensemble-based CMS Quality Manager Will Deliver Real-time Quality Data
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
InterSystems Corporation today announced that Technology Medical Partners
(T-M-Partners) has selected the InterSystems Ensemble rapid integration and
development platform for its CMS Quality Manager healthcare application. The
first of many healthcare technology solutions under development by T-M-Partners,
CMS Quality Manageris designedto vastly improve the data abstraction and
administrative processes of reporting core measures to the Centers for Medicaid
and Medicare Services (CMS).

InterSystems develops innovative integration, database, and business
intelligence products. T-M-Partners, an InterSystems application partner, has
made a name for itself developing composite healthcare solutions that improve
quality, cash flow and efficiencies for healthcare providers through the
improvement of data access, administrative workflow and quality.

Ensemble is used to develop and integrate mission-critical applications,
leverage previous software investments through composite applications, and
establish an enterprise service bus or SOA infrastructure. Ensemble-based
projects are deployed in hundreds of organizations in healthcare, government,
financial services, and other industries where reliability and high-performance
are paramount concerns.

"Healthcare has many human-based processes in need of data access, automation
and process improvement," said Jeff Burke, Managing Partner at T-M-Partners.
"The InterSystems Ensemble platform enables us to rapidly configure these
processes and access data in a way that simplifies the user experience and do so
on a platform designed for continuous improvement, speed and scalability. The
bottom line benefit to healthcare providers includes higher quality, lower
costs, higher efficiency and improved patient and employee satisfaction."

Delivering Benefits of Real Time Quality Data

The ability of the Ensemble-based CMS Quality Manager to provide data in
real-time mode leads to improvement and control of quality processes and patient
outcomes, according to Burke. "Efficient reporting of CMS quality data is just
the beginning," he noted. "Quality measures that are actionable in real time
will allow for rapid corrective actions and better quality of care processes.
And," Burke continued, "dashboards provide forms, charts, reports, tables and
graphs that present executives and managers with key quality data in the format
they prefer." In addition, the CMS Quality Manager portal provides role-based
access to key items such as processes, activities, tasks lists and roles. The
application also provides automated workflow that enables CMS Quality Report
processes, notifications, alerts, escalations and delegation. "Rules and alerts
will enable care-givers to properly meet quality guidelines and improve in real
time, rather than in weeks, or even months, after the fact," Burke pointed out.
"That real-time improvement of outcomes leads to financial rewards and patient
satisfaction as well as improved pay for performance."

"T-M-Partners` healthcare expertise in quality methods like Six Sigma coupled
with their experience in technology implementations and solution development
means that they are helping their clients apply business process and technology
directly to high impact, highly visible pain points. This yields more immediate
financial returns," said Matthew Nee, InterSystems Vice President of North
American Sales. "We are excited to have been selected as T-M-Partners` platform
of choice for the development of composite healthcare applications like their
new CMS Quality Manager."

About InterSystems

InterSystems Corporation is the worldwide leader in software for connected
healthcare. With headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and offices in 21
countries, InterSystems provides innovative products that enable fast
development, deployment, and integration of enterprise-class applications.
InterSystems CACHÉ is a high performance object database that makes applications
faster and more scalable. InterSystems Ensemble is a rapid integration and
development platform that enriches applications with new functionality, and
makes them connectable. InterSystems HealthShare is a platform that enables the
fastest creation of an Electronic Health Record for regional or national health
information exchange. InterSystems DeepSee is software that makes it possible to
embed real-time business intelligence in transactional applications, enabling
better operational decisions. InterSystems is the world`s #1 vendor of database
and integration technologies for healthcare applications. InterSystems products
are used by thousands of hospitals and labs, including all 21 hospitals on the
Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals as rated by U.S. News and World Report.
For more information, visit InterSystems.com.

About Technology Medical Partners

Technology Medical Partners (T-M-Partners) was founded in 2004 and is focused on
Healthcare Performance Improvement with Composite Solutions. T-M-Partners
delivers value-added information technology solutions and services to the
Healthcare Industry. We focus on the business performance improvement of
"healthcare providers" (Hospitals and Large Physician Practices). As a
consulting channel partner of other technology solutions, TMP brings a
comprehensive array of solutions, products and services together with experience
and leadership in Healthcare Solutions delivery. Specifically, we look at the
processes across the hospital that impact financial performance, quality
measures, business operations, revenue cycle management and other critical
success factors of the management team. See www.t-m-partners.net for more
information.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
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