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Local Hospital Enlists BT for Team Communications

Regions Hospital Improves Patient Care and Workforce Productivity with New Processes and Wireless Voice Communication System

Arden Hills, MN (July 12, 2005) — BT announced today that it has helped Regions Hospital in St. Paul improve patient care and workforce productivity by transforming its staff communications processes. Through its Team Communications offering, BT provided Regions Hospital with business and technical consulting services in addition to the implementation of a wireless communications system that was piloted earlier this year in a trauma unit and a medical surgery unit.

Regions said they selected BT after a successful pilot of the technology and service because of BT’s ability to help them assess their communications requirements, establish new processes, and select the most appropriate communications solution to meet their specific needs.

BT and Regions said they are using a wireless communications system from Vocera Communications, which allows staff to communicate with a touch of a button and simple voice commands. According to Regions staff, the instant communications system helps increase patient safety by allowing nurses to get additional assistance for a patient in need or crisis without leaving the patient’s bedside to search for help. Also, when a nurse needs to speak with a physician about a patient’s condition, they can use the system to page a physician who would return the page by phone and then be directly connected to the nurse through the Vocera system, resulting in shortened wait times.

During the pilot study, Regions found that the voice-activated devices helped to increase productivity of their mobile personnel. As a result, overtime hours fell by as much as 67 percent, resulting in a substantial cost savings due to reductions in overtime pay.

“We place a great deal of focus on how our customers can operate more efficiently through more timely and effective communication,” said Chris Turnquist, vice president of sales for BT’s Consulting and Systems Integration business. “For Regions Hospital that means increasing staff productivity and reducing overtime while also improving patient safety and satisfaction.”

“The nurses quickly adopted this new technology because it is easy to use, and it enhances communication between staff, allowing them to respond to their patients’ needs in a more timely manner,” said Kim LaReau, vice president and chief information officer at Regions. “BT did a great job understanding our staff's requirements and then working to create and implement a new system designed specifically for Regions.”

Regions Hospital is now working with BT to expand the communications system into 20 additional patient-care areas, including general medical surgery units, The Surgery Center, The Burn Center and the Emergency Center. The hospital estimates that 1,200 total staff across shifts will be using the communications system when the roll-out is complete. Regions expects to be the first hospital in Minnesota to have a house-wide deployment of Vocera.

The Consulting & Systems Integration business of BT located in Arden Hills, Minnesota is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Telecommunications plc.

About BT
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions serving customers in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. Its principal activities include networked IT services, local, national and international telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and internet products and services.

BT consists principally of three lines of business:

• BT Retail, providing a comprehensive range of communications and related services to more than 20m UK consumers and businesses.
  
• BT Wholesale, providing network services and solutions within the UK to more than 600 fixed and mobile operators and service providers including the provision of broadband and private circuits.
  
• BT Global Services, providing networked IT services to meet the needs of multi-site organisations globally. BT Global Services operates in more than 130 countries and also offers international carrier services.

In the year ended 31 March 2005, BT Group’s turnover was £18,623 million with profit before goodwill amortisation, exceptional items and taxation of £2,085 million.

BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt

Contact:
June Rochford
908-756-9525