CBORD's Bedside Product Now for Palm Handhelds

For Immediate Release

Ithaca, New York—The CBORD Group, Inc. announced today that its popular Bedside Menu Entry system is now available on Palm™ handheld computers from Palm, Inc. The Bedside Menu Entry (BME) product is designed to help hospitals and other healthcare facilities improve patient care and satisfaction without increasing costs by supporting paperless and spoken menu environments. Redesigned for Palm handhelds, BME will provide more convenience for dietary staff.

"We understand the need for personalized care," said Roy Hardin, Director of Development at CBORD. "This new system promotes and supports the best bedside service - and it's so convenient that the dietary technicians will love it."

BME helps to enhance the patient's service experience. Nutrition associates using BME take menu selections closer to the time of service, talk in person with each patient, and offer only those menu choices suited to each patient's dietary requirements. In addition, BME eliminates the need for paper menus and manual data entry, so it's more convenient to use. For healthcare facilities, it provides dietary services an important link between efficiency and customer service.

Bedside Menu Entry interfaces to CBORD's Diet Office Management System. The new Palm handheld format provides seamless communication between the handheld and desktop computers. Palm handhelds fit into a cradle attached to the desktop PC - no more I/R ports or serial cables with small pins. "Once the handheld computer is in its cradle, the information can be transmitted by simply pressing a button," Hardin said. "No more intermediary programs to hassle with. Data upload is clean and clear."

Weighing only five ounces, the sleek Palm handheld computers are smaller and more manageable than BME hardware of the past. The new platform also allows for greater ease in navigating the software. It is as simple as 'touch and go' with the attached stylus.

“CBORD online Help is excellent. I train people on so many different kinds of software systems, and I never used to tell people to use online Help. But since I started using CBORD, the first thing I tell someone is 'Use the Help!'”

— Kent Rigby
Erickson Retirement Communities