Henry Schein Announces the Launch of Innovative Henry Schein ConnectHealth(TM) Collaborative

MELVILLE, N.Y., March 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC), the largest distributor of health care products and services to office-based practitioners, today announced the launch of Henry Schein ConnectHealth™, an innovative new initiative that is a partnership of Henry Schein and leading electronic health record, medical device, and computer services companies, which have come together to help physicians meet the demands of creating and maintaining a coordinated, efficient digital office.  Henry Schein ConnectHealth will help physician practices by simplifying the selection of compatible digital equipment that will seamlessly connect to their electronic health record, coordinating the implementation, providing enhanced decision support and single-call customer concierge support after implementation.

"Henry Schein ConnectHealth provides a reliable, relevant, and coordinated solution for physicians who are looking for the best way to leverage the benefits that electronic health records can bring to their practice," said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Henry Schein.  "By facilitating a sophisticated interaction of the data derived from digital devices in a medical office with the electronic medical record, Henry Schein ConnectHealth makes it easier for the modern physician's office to achieve the future of information-technology based medicine.  This exciting, new collaborative enables physicians to deliver superior quality care for their patients, improve efficiency, and increase the profitability of their practice."

"Physicians are currently faced with hundreds of individual products, services and companies providing electronic health records, equipment and hardware options. Henry Schein ConnectHealth brings together this extraordinary alliance of industry leaders to provide a total technology integration solution for our customers' practices. It does so by consulting, selecting, implementing, financing and providing front and backend support services to a physician," said Dave McKinley, President of Henry Schein Medical.  "Henry Schein ConnectHealth includes the best of the best in the medical technology industry:  Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX), the leading electronic health record company; Midmark, Siemens Healthcare (NYSE: SI) and Welch Allyn, the leading digital medical device companies uniquely working with Henry Schein; Dell, the industry's leading healthcare IT services provider; and Medline, a primary manufacturer and distributor in major hospitals and health care systems."

Henry Schein ConnectHealth will seamlessly connect electronic health records with medical devices and coordinate all information technology aspects of the physician's office.  By providing certified  connectivity between Midmark, Welch Allyn, and Siemens Healthcare devices and Allscripts Professional EHRs, Henry Schein ConnectHealth will ensure that all of the information from the connected medical devices is automatically populated as discreet data within a patient's health record at the push of a button. Physician practices will no longer need to manage the difficulties that typically arise when trying to integrate a third-party device into their EHR.

Connecting digital equipment to electronic health records will provide many benefits, including eliminating errors in transcription, eliminating duplicate data entry, saving time and cost through effective workflow, and enabling practitioners to access patient information anywhere.

In 2009, Henry Schein signed an exclusive marketing agreement for Allscripts award-winning Professional Electronic Health Records, which provides health care professionals with instant and secure access to patient records anytime and anywhere; automates everyday clinical tasks; and connects physicians to pharmacies, laboratories, and other health stakeholders.

"Physicians want to practice medicine using the best tools that provide the best information.  ConnectHealth will make it easier for physicians to adopt and use comprehensive Electronic Health Records," said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts. "We're proud to be partnered with Henry Schein and expect to benefit from their close relationships with more than 112,000 physicians across the United States."  

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 provides maximum incentives of between $44,000 and $64,000 over five years, beginning in 2011, for physicians who adopt and use a certified electronic health record to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of patient care.

To learn more about Henry Schein ConnectHealth and view a video introduction to the partnership, please visit www.henryschein.com/connecthealth.

About the Henry Schein ConnectHealth Alliance Member Companies

Allscripts uses innovation technology to bring health to health care. More than 160,000 physicians, 800 hospitals and nearly 8,000 post-acute and homecare organizations utilize Allscripts to improve the health of their patients and their bottom line. The company's award-winning solutions include electronic health records, electronic prescribing, revenue cycle management, practice management, document management, care management, emergency department information systems and homecare automation.  Allscripts is the brand name of Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc. To learn more, visit www.allscripts.com.

Midmark Corporation helps bring efficient patient care to millions of people each day in the human and animal health care industries around the world. Midmark digital diagnostic devices, including IQecg, IQholter, IQ spiro, and IQstress, provide robust connectivity and seamless workflow, helping physicians and their staff to be more productive. With over 1,100 teammates worldwide, Midmark is dedicated to making a positive difference in the practice of healthcare. Headquartered in Versailles, Ohio, Midmark Corporation maintains four subsidiaries in the United States. To support international health care markets, it holds a subsidiary in France, and partners with a leading health care manufacturer in India. For more information about Midmark, visit the company's Web site at www.midmark.com.

The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, medical information technology and hearing aids. Siemens offers its customers products and solutions for the entire range of patient care from a single source – from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, and on to treatment and aftercare. By optimizing clinical workflows for the most common diseases, Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better and more cost-effective. Siemens Healthcare employs some 48,000 employees worldwide and operates around the world. In fiscal year 2009 (to September 30), the Sector posted revenue of 11.9 billion euros and profit of around 1.5 billion euros. For further information please visit: www.siemens.com/healthcare.

Founded in 1915 and headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, NY (USA), Welch Allyn is a leading global manufacturer of medical diagnostic equipment and a complete range of digital and connected solutions.  With over 2,500 employees working in 26 different countries, Welch Allyn specializes in helping doctors, nurses, and other frontline practitioners across the globe provide the best patient care by developing innovative products, breakthrough technologies, and cutting-edge solutions that help them see more patients, detect more conditions, and improve more lives.  More information about Welch Allyn and its complete line of connected products and solutions may be found at www.welchallyn.com.

Dell, the industry's leading provider of healthcare IT services, provides technology solutions that transform the business and technology of healthcare.  Dell helps healthcare organizations harness the power of information to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care, streamline administration and maximize competitiveness.  Learn more at:  http://www.dell.com/healthcare.

Medline, the nation's largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of healthcare products, manufactures and distributes more than 100,000 products to hospitals, extended care facilities, surgery centers, home care dealers and agencies and other markets.  Headquartered in Mundelein, IL, Medline has more than 850 dedicated sales representatives nationwide to support its broad product line and cost management services.  

About Henry Schein

Henry Schein, a Fortune 500® company and a member of the NASDAQ 100® Index, is recognized for its excellent customer service and highly competitive prices. The Company's four business groups - Dental, Medical, International and Technology - serve more than 600,000 customers worldwide, including dental practitioners and laboratories, physician practices and animal health clinics, as well as government and other institutions. The Company operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, which provides customers in more than 200 countries with a comprehensive selection of more than 90,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 100,000 additional products available as special-order items. Henry Schein also provides exclusive, innovative technology offerings for dental, medical and veterinary professionals, including value-added practice management software and electronic health record solutions.

Headquartered in Melville, N.Y., Henry Schein employs more than 13,500 people and has operations or affiliates in 23 countries. The Company's net sales reached a record $6.5 billion in 2009. For more information, visit the Henry Schein Web site at www.henryschein.com.

In accordance with the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we provide the following cautionary remarks regarding important factors that, among others, could cause future results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, expectations and assumptions expressed or implied herein.  All forward-looking statements made by us are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance.  These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance and achievements or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  These statements are identified by the use of such terms as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "anticipate" or other comparable terms.  A full discussion of our operations and financial condition, including factors that may affect our business and future prospects, is contained in documents we have filed with the SEC and will be contained in all subsequent periodic filings we make with the SEC.  These documents identify in detail important risk factors that could cause our actual performance to differ materially from current expectations.

Risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current and historical results include, but are not limited to: decreased customer demand and changes in vendor credit terms; disruptions in financial markets; general economic conditions; effects of a highly competitive market; changes in the healthcare industry; changes in regulatory requirements; risks from expansion of customer purchasing power and multi-tiered costing structures; risks associated with our international operations; fluctuations in quarterly earnings; our dependence on third parties for the manufacture and supply of our products; transitional challenges associated with acquisitions, including the failure to achieve anticipated synergies; financial risks associated with acquisitions; regulatory and litigation risks; the dependence on our continued product development, technical support and successful marketing in the technology segment; risks from disruption to our information systems; our dependence upon sales personnel, manufacturers and customers; our dependence on our senior management; possible increases in the cost of shipping our products or other service issues with our third-party shippers; risks from rapid technological change; possible volatility of the market price of our common stock; certain provisions in our governing documents that may discourage third-party acquisitions of us; and changes in tax legislation.  The order in which these factors appear should not be construed to indicate their relative importance or priority.  We caution that these factors may not be exhaustive and that many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict.  Accordingly, any forward-looking statements contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results.  We undertake no duty and have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Henry Schein, Inc.

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