PALO ALTO, Calif., July 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) ranked #1 in an independent study released last week by KLAS, a research firm that specializes in monitoring and reporting on the performance of healthcare vendors. Varian's ARIA™ software, a comprehensive information system for managing medical and radiation oncology practices, received top scores in study categories including: ease of use, quality of releases and updates, and compatibility with third party products.
According to the June 2008 Oncology report, Varian Medical Systems is "considered by many providers to have the most developed and comprehensive oncology solution." The report further states that "many Varian customers feel that the ARIA suite is the most robust solution for medical and radiation oncology available on the market today."
Although KLAS interviewed eleven potential vendors, the study focuses on Varian, IMPAC, and IntrinsiQ, the only three with a sufficient number of active installations to qualify.
Varian was the only vendor to score above the group average in all four of the report's major categories: product/technology indicators, service indicators, success indicators, and business indicators. Varian scored above competitors in 23 of the forty indicators that the study measured, while IntrinsiQ scored highest in 13, and IMPAC in six. Some of the indicators for which Varian achieved top scores included: ease of use; quality of releases or updates; technology that is easy to implement and support; works with third-party producers; quality of implementation, training, and documentation; quality and timeliness of interfaces; helps your job performance, and overall satisfaction with vendor/product.
All of the CIOs, managers, doctors, nurses, IT directors, and other administrators and healthcare professionals surveyed about their experience with Varian's oncology information system said that they:
-- consider Varian's solution part of their organization's long-term plan -- would buy Varian's product again -- would recommend Varian's product to a friend or peer.
The KLAS study predicts that Varian will continue to be seen as one of the most complete medical and radiation oncology solutions for some time to come.
"We're gratified to receive top marks in an objective survey of our customers," said Dow Wilson, president of the company's Oncology Systems business. "It validates the work we're doing to offer treatment centers a versatile set of best-in-class clinical tools for fighting cancer."
ABOUT VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X- ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 4,600 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America and Europe and in its 60 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com/.
ABOUT KLAS
KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare vendors. KLAS' mission is to improve delivery, by independently measuring vendor performance for the benefit of our healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors, and vendors. Working together with executives from over 4500 hospitals and over 2500 clinics, KLAS delivers timely reports, trends, and statistics, which provide a solid overview of vendor performance in the industry. KLAS measures performance of software, professional services, and medical equipment vendors. For more information, go to http://www.klasresearch.com/, email marketing@KLASresearch.com, or call 1-800-920-4109 to speak with a KLAS representative. ©KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Meryl Ginsberg, Varian Medical Systems 650-424-6444 or meryl.ginsberg@varian.com
SOURCE: Varian Medical Systems, Inc.
CONTACT: Meryl Ginsberg of Varian Medical Systems, +1-650-424-6444,
meryl.ginsberg@varian.com
Web site: http://www.varian.com/
http://www.klasresearch.com/