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Plymouth Meeting, PA, September 5, 2007 — ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) has redesignated ECRI Institute as a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Patient Safety, Risk Management, and Healthcare Technology. WHO Collaborating Centers are part of an inter-institutional network designed to strengthen country resources in terms of information, services, research, and training in support of national health development. As a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center, ECRI Institute's activities include coordinating a medical device safety program, providing training in technology assessment, identifying healthcare standards and guidelines, and supporting global patient safety efforts.

"We are gratified to again earn designation as a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center," says Ronni P. Solomon, J.D., ECRI Institute's executive vice president and general counsel and head of the Collaborating Center. "As a nonprofit organization, we are committed to finding the most effective ways to improve patient care and to sharing that information with the international healthcare community."

Since its first PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center designation in 1987, ECRI Institute has worked extensively on a range of health technology issues around the world. Most recently, the organization hosted a workshop on the evaluation of the quality of needles and syringes for senior technical professionals from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. The workshop was aimed at further strengthening vaccination programs in Latin American and Caribbean countries and to aid in medical technology decision-making.

As a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center, ECRI Institute's activities, as defined under the new terms of reference, include:

• To serve as a center of excellence for WHO to support research and the implementation of research findings in patient safety, healthcare technology, and risk management.
  
  
• To establish and coordinate the medical device safety program consisting of (a) the establishment of a centralized database reporting system for medical device adverse events and near misses from countries, (b) the analysis of such reports, (c) the issuance of recommendations and safe practices for preventing such problems, and (d) the promotion of the program to countries.
  
  
• To enhance information exchange on medical device safety, procurement, and management.
  
  
• To develop, maintain, and promulgate in various languages, a universal medical device nomenclature systemÝ(UMDNS™)Ýand grant WHO rights to use such system.
  
  
• To provide training programs in technology assessment, planning, procurement, and management of medical equipment; and in related application of information and software.
  
  
• To support ongoing global harmonization and patient safety efforts by providing on-site technical assistance and consultation support in its areas of expertise to ministries of health, national regulatory authorities, non-governmental organizations, and healthcare and academic institutions.
  
  
• To further develop, expand, and maintain its library and information resources, and continue to serve as the worldwide WHO Healthcare Technology Archives and facilitate public access to these resources.
  
  
• To identify and disseminate healthcare standards and guidelines and facilitate worldwide accessibility by serving as the WHO Healthcare Standards and Guidelines Archives.
  
  
• To serve as an information clearinghouse and provide advisory services and technical support on patient safety, risk management, and health care technology for various levels.

ECRI Institute (formerly ECRI), a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to uncover the best approaches to improving patient care. As a pioneer in this science for nearly 40 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. ECRI Institute is designated a Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization and an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.Ý ECRI Institute has its world headquarters in the United States and offices in Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East.

For more information, visit www.ecri.org or contact ECRI Institute by mail at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1298, USA; by telephone at +1 (610) 825-6000; by fax at +1 (610) 834-1275; or by e-mail at communications@ecri.org.

Source: ECRI Institute