Geisinger Health System Receives 2003 eHealthcare Leadership Award for Web Site Dec. 3, 2003, DANVILLE — Geisinger Health System's web site, www.geisinger.org, has received the 2003 eHealthcare Leadership Silver Award as Best e-Business Site. Geisinger was among more than 174 health care organizations, representing a wide industry spectrum, receiving recognition for its outstanding Web site at a special presentation in Phoenix, AZ., in October during a health care Internet and technology conference. Sites receiving a 2003 eHealthcare Leadership Award were selected from more than 1,200 entries. One-hundred four individuals familiar with healthcare and the Internet judged the entries. "It's wonderful to have Geisinger named a recipient of this prestigious award," said Mark Tomeo, content webmaster. "It validates our belief that web technology improves our service to patients and makes our business practices more efficient. This award formally recognizes the progress we have made and the efforts of our employees who made this progress possible." Geisinger's web content includes complete descriptions of its clinical services and facilities; online databases of clinical trials, continuing medical education offerings and job openings; portals for referring physicians to keep track of their patients and for patients to keep track of their medical records; and thousands of pages of easily searchable articles on consumer health care topics. The Geisinger web site conforms to and is certified as complying with the Health on the Net Foundation's principles of conduct. Geisinger's web pages are visited more than three million times per year. The Geisinger web site also received a 2002 eHealthcare Leadership Award of Distinction for best health/health care content. "In this fourth year of the program, response was very strong," says Mark Gothberg, eHealthcare Leadership Awards chairman, in noting that the number of entries and winners was up sharply from last year. "One clear trend is that leading-edge healthcare organizations are placing increasing focus on e-business. While the web is an important communications medium, it is now viewed as a key vehicle in helping the organization achieve its business objectives." Award winners represented 17 industry classifications, from hospitals and health systems to pharmaceutical firms and online health companies. Judges looked at how sites compared with others in their organization's classification. They also reviewed sites based on a proprietary multi-point standard of Internet excellence. "Many fine sites missed winning by a small margin," says Gothberg. "As in previous years, the competition was very strong in the large hospital, health care system and managed care classifications." The eHealthcare Leadership Awards program was developed and first presented in 2000 by eHealthcare Strategy & Trends, a leading Internet resource published by Health Care Communications, Rye, NY. More information, including a complete list of winners and judges, is available at www.strategichealthcare.com PHOTO AVAILABLE: Download a high-resolution digital image of the photograph above at www.geisinger.org/media. | 
