John Stewart, president and chief executive officer, The Heart Center of Indiana (THCI), had a vision: to create an electronic system that would integrate clinical, financial and operational functions. He was able to realize his vision in just seven months. All IT, medical and financial systems were installed in record time. Both THCI and Siemens believed that the new facility had to be different from the traditional hospital model, to include a one-stop information system that would allow staff from every corner of the 160,000-square-foot, four-story building to do their jobs more efficiently. Everything from the design of the building and placement of the ER, catheterization lab, and "guest suites" (as opposed to patient rooms) to the development of a universal bed concept and the structure of the hospital hierarchy was done with careful consideration.

As a result, the culture focuses more on processes and teamwork than on individual turf. THCI is a case study in realizing the goals set forth by the U.S. government and meeting the expectations of a public that is increasingly calling for serious change in our healthcare system. The impact on the quality of care is demonstrated by:

• Actual medical errors have been reduced by 37 percent
• The average length of patient stay has dropped from the national benchmark by greater than 25 percent
• The mortality rate has been lowered from 2.4 percent to 0.9 percent
• In the percutaneous coronary intervention, the success rate is 97.9 percent - 6.5 percent better than the American College of Cardiology benchmark of 91.4 percent
• Patients give THCI top scores, with more than 90 percent rating their care as "excellent"