3M Health Information Systems announced today the signing of a strategic agreement with HealthShare Technology Inc. to integrate 3M All Patient Refined DRG (APR-DRG) Software, the industry's leading severity adjustment and risk of mortality tool, with HealthShare Technology's Select Quality Care Web-based decision support tools for hospitals, health plans and employers. The software products will work seamlessly to enhance provider performance measurement, comparative analyses and quality assurance.

3M APR-DRG software measures clinical performance and identifies statistical differences in severity, mortality, resource use and patient care across health care organizations. 3M APR-DRGs are used for performance measurement in more than 2,000 health care settings nationwide, including state agencies, state hospital associations and business coalitions in 25 states, as well as by health services researchers, such as the federal Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ).

HealthShare Technology's Select Quality Care tools are supported by publicly available data reported by hospitals to state and federal agencies. This data includes comparisons of hospital performance measures such as mortality rates, length of stay, complications and how frequently the hospital performs specific procedures. To provide a meaningful comparison, the data are adjusted for severity of illness so that hospitals that treat the sickest patients are not penalized in the reports.

"Health care organizations rely on us to provide meaningful and valid data for comparisons of hospital treatment outcomes," says Richard Siegrist, president and CEO of HealthShare Technology. "By integrating 3M's severity adjustment software with HealthShare's comprehensive decision support products, we can provide customized, credible hospital performance evaluation data that can be used by hospitals, health plans and employers to assess the quality of care and better manage health care costs."

Norbert Goldfield, M.D, medical director for 3M Health Information Systems, says that the decision to provide 3M APR-DRG software to companies like HealthShare Technology is consistent with 3M's goal to make its proprietary APR-DRG technology available to all segments of the health care market. "Using a consistent method for measuring severity and risk of mortality across health care facilities helps ensure that provider performance report cards are an accurate indicator of care quality," says Goldfield. "3M APR-DRGs have received wide acceptance as the industry-preferred method for severity and risk adjustment. By providing the software on an OEM basis, we can further support the accurate and cost-effective measurement of health care value, quality and cost by providers, payers, purchasers, government and consumers."

HealthShare Technology

HealthShare Technology Inc. is a provider of health care decision support tools that quickly and effectively analyze provider cost and quality. HealthShare is a privately held company with an impressive client roster of leading health plans, hospitals and health systems, employers, and consulting firms. Select Quality Care Consumer and Select Quality Care Professional are products of HealthShare Technology. Select Quality Care Consumer is an award-winning hospital comparison tool for consumers and has been approved by the Leapfrog Group to disseminate their patient safety survey data. To learn more, visit www.selectqualitycare.com.

About 3M Health Information Systems

3M Health Information Systems, part of the 3M Health Care family, is a leading provider of advanced software tools and services that help health care organizations capture, classify and manage accurate health care data. Built on a foundation of more than 20 years of clinical, financial and administrative expertise, 3M Health Information Systems products help ensure the quality of data, which drives an organization's ability to manage revenue, comply with regulations, improve quality of patient care and manage resources effectively. 3M Health Care, the largest of 3M's seven major businesses, serves medical, dental, pharmaceutical and personal care markets. 3M is a $18 billion diversified technology company with leading positions in health care, safety, electronics, telecommunications, industrial, consumer and office, and other markets. More information about 3M Health Information Systems is available at www.3Mhis.com, and by calling 800-367-2447.

About 3M -- A Global, Diversified Technology Company

Every day, 3M people find new ways to make amazing things happen. Wherever they are, whatever they do, the company's customers know they can rely on 3M to help make their lives better. 3M's brands include icons such as Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Command and Vikuiti. Serving customers in more than 200 countries around the world, the company's 67,000 people use their expertise, technologies and global strength to lead in major markets including consumer and office; display and graphics; electronics and telecommunications; safety, security and protection services; health care; industrial and transportation. For more information, including the latest product and technology news, visit www.3M.com.

3M, Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Command and Vikuiti are trademarks of 3M.

Select Quality Care is a registered trademark of HealthShare Technology Inc.

For 3M Health Information SystemsPrice Houns AssociatesMollie Houns, 952-920-6951orFor HealthShare TechnologyBrodeur WorldwideJohn Hallock, 617-587-7698or3M Public Relations and Corporate CommunicationsJohn Cornwell, 651-733-7698www.3M.com/profile/pressbox/media_contacts.jhtml