Oracle, HealthSouth Team For High-Tech Health Care

Compiled ByTravis Hessman HealthSouth Corp. will partner with Oracle Corp. to create the first all-digital, automated hospital. Set to be constructed near HealthSouth's campus in Birmingham, Ala., the facility will "demonstrate how technology can lower healthcare costs, greatly reduce human errors, and provide patients with the best medical care available," says Richard M. Scrushy, chairman and CEO of HealthSouth. The hospital will include such feature as patient beds equipped with the Internet, electronic medical-records storage, digital imaging, and a wireless communications network that will permit medical personnel armed with portable computers to securely update and access patients' medical records. Nine medical-equipment manufacturers will assist in the design, construction, and integration of equipment that will be used in the hospital. Construction is slated to begin in the first quarter of 2002 and be completed by mid to late 2003.