Thomson Reuters Expands CareNotes® Patient Education System to Support 15 Languages

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Aug 26, 2010, 12:47 ET

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomson Reuters has expanded its Micromedex CareNotes patient education system to include coverage in 15 languages. CareNotes have always been available in English and Spanish, but starting today customers will have access to a core set of CareNotes and DrugNotes in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French (Canadian), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Used by over 3,000 hospitals, the CareNotes System has been a leading source for complete and reliable patient education materials for more than 10 years. With the enhanced offering CareNotes is now a leader in translated patient education, providing customers with education to meet the needs of over 80 percent of the U.S. non-English speaking population.

Delivering the highest quality educational handouts to patients in their local language increases comprehension, has a positive impact on the number of adverse events and readmissions, and leads to higher levels of patient compliance. Additionally, it helps meet requirements to educate non-English speaking populations.

"Our staff loves the web-based access of CareNotes and how easy it is to use, and we couldn't be more excited about this new enhancement," said Linda McCombe, Nursing Informatics Manager at Swedish Covenant Hospital. "The ability to provide education in the language of choice is vital to improving patient safety and quality, and we have many patients who will benefit."

Presented as fully customizable documents, CareNotes helps educate patients about their conditions, medications, laboratory tests, follow-up care, psychosocial issues, post-discharge care, and continuing health. By providing a single, trusted source for evidence-based patient education materials, CareNotes helps hospitals and health providers improve patient compliance with care plans, patient satisfaction, and clinical outcomes, all while helping to meet Joint Commission and OBRA '90 patient education guidelines, and CMS Meaningful Use Stage 1 Objectives for patient education. CareNotes patient education content can be accessed online and can also be integrated within other electronic hospital and healthcare information systems.

"With 20 percent of the U.S. population speaking a language other than English at home, it's more important than ever to give patients the education they need in the language they understand best," said Thomas Hegelund, executive vice president at Thomson Reuters. "With the addition of more languages, our CareNotes customers will have access to the evidence-based patient education they need to serve a diverse patient population that continues to grow."

For additional information, please visit www.micromedex.com/patiented.

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs 55,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.

SOURCE Thomson Reuters