ARMONK, N.Y., Sept. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- UPMC, one of the nation's leading academic medical centers, today announced the renewal of its agreement with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to continue enhancing computing and storage performance and reliability. UPMC's new technology investment with IBM, valued at $120 million over the next four years, will support the healthcare system's goal of changing the way that treatments are designed for individual patients by effectively using massive volumes of patient and research data.

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Under the original agreement with IBM signed in 2005, UPMC saved or avoided costs of more than $191 million over six years, eliminating the need to create a new data center and supporting UPMC's rapid growth. Under the new agreement, IBM and UPMC will continue to collaborate on the development of medical technologies that improve care and the patient experience and remain among the founding partners in the Center for Connected Medicine, a showcase for how technology can transform healthcare.

"UPMC is keenly focused on creating new models of effective and affordable care, supported by good science and smart technology. Extending our long partnership with IBM is a key part of that strategy," said Chief Information Officer Daniel Drawbaugh.

IBM worked with UPMC to design a dynamic, virtualized technology infrastructure that shortened information backup times by 20 percent and recovery times by 50 percent. IBM's expertise in storage and server virtualization allowed the re-engineered network to become more adaptable and flexible to meet expanding patient volume and data growth for UPMC's more than 20 hospitals and 400 outpatient locations. The information technology infrastructure supports UPMC's industry-leading electronic medical records system in which patient information -- including tests, radiology images, allergies and medication lists -- is always available to the medical team. A private cloud system also supports all mission-critical applications for UPMC, recently ranked 10(th) in the nation among "America's Best Hospitals" by U.S. News & World Report.

"UPMC has pioneered a new model for ensuring its information technology keeps pace with the challenging demands of healthcare," said Dan Pelino, general manager, IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences. "With a focus on flexibility to meet the constantly changing demands of this progressive integrated healthcare delivery and financing system, UPMC's technology infrastructure plays an important role in delivering the highest quality of care, safety and efficiency."

IBM Global Technology Services will provide support and services over the term of the contract. UPMC's virtualized infrastructure is built on IBM BladeCenter and Power System servers, and IBM XIV storage systems.

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About UPMC
UPMC is a $10 billion global health enterprise with more than 55,000 employees headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., and is transforming health care by integrating more than 20 hospitals, 400 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, a health insurance services division, and international and commercial services. Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC ranked No. 10 in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report annual Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals in 2012--and No. 1 in Pennsylvania--with 15 adult specialty areas ranked for excellence. UPMC is redefining health care by using innovative science, technology and medicine to invent new models of accountable, cost-efficient and patient-centered care. For more information on how UPMC is taking medicine from where it is to where it needs to be, go to UPMC.com.

Media Contact:
Holli Haswell
hhaswell@us.ibm.com
720-396-5485

SOURCE IBM