COPENHAGEN, Denmark, October 31 /PRNewswire/ --

- DoctorConsult in Germany Marks First of Several Localized Workflow Solutions That Improve Clinician Decision Making and Health Care Business Performance

With a deep understanding of healthcare workflow and more than a century of experience as a global medical publisher, Elsevier is increasing its efforts to provide interactive clinical reference and clinical decision support (CDS) tools to new markets in Europe. With the launch of DoctorConsult - the German language version of MD Consult ( http://www.doctorconsult.de) -- Elsevier becomes the first multi-lingual professional clinical reference product provider.

The customized products meet the cultural needs of users who do not speak English as a first language, and address specific medical practice needs within different countries. The internet-based products provide users with a full range of medical information covering a variety of clinical needs. In one integrated interface, users can access evidence-based immediately actionable 'quick answers' (i.e. Elsevier's FirstConsult) as well as background references such as books and full text journal articles suitable for more in depth research and education needs. Additional localized versions of MD Consult are in development for Italy, France and Spain.

The Consult suite of multilingual reference products is just one of several solutions being developed to meet local reference, point-of-care, workflow and decision support needs. Additional solutions in development include:

- Clinical Decision Support: - Guidelines and best practice information delivered when and where they are most useful at the point of care - Leveraging of patient data to pinpoint the most needed information for a given clinical task - Drug information and safety checking, also linked to patient data when possible - Seamless content integration with Electronic Health Records, including infobuttons and alerts - Payer services: - Retrospective analytics for identifying performance gaps and outliers - Tools to influence provider behavior (CDS solutions)

Elsevier has been transforming CDS technology to offer a higher level of usability, primarily in the U.S. and now more so in Europe, said Jose Wehnes, Managing Director of the International Division of Elsevier Health Sciences. Elsevier knowledge solutions, from drug information and actionable decision support, to process improvement and predictive analysis, have the potential to help deliver timely and appropriate information to clinicians in any country as they make critical diagnostic and therapeutic decisions throughout their workday.

Capturing 'e' Opportunities

Elsevier is uniquely positioned to replicate its success in the U.S. abroad. Market dynamics are different, as European E-Health markets and Elsevier's positions within them are at an earlier stage of development than in the U.S. However, key underlying market forces are similar to those in the U.S, particularly the drive to contain costs and improve outcomes, and the rapid increase in internet usage by physicians and other healthcare practitioners.

By building upon our core strengths in leading content to provide information and workflow solutions, we can improve outcomes and efficiencies for both payers and providers on a country by country basis, said Wehnes. Growing Elsevier Clinical Decision Support in Europe reinforces Elsevier's broader business strategy to strengthen its lead in core content, drive the transition of print materials to e-formats and deliver solutions directly into the clinical process.

Come by booth #625 at the World of Health IT Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark November 4-6, 2008 to learn more.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult ( http://www.mdconsult.com/), Mosby Nursing Consult ( http://www.nursingconsult.com) Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/), bibliographic databases and online reference works.

Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Tom Reller Director of Corp. Relations, Elsevier +1-212-462-1912 T.Reller@Elsevier.com

Tom Reller, Director of Corp. Relations, Elsevier, +1-212-462-1912, T.Reller@Elsevier.com