Accenture, LBK Hamburg Chosen to Re-design and Transform Austrian Hospital Center

HAMBURG/KLAGENFURT; 18 Oct. 2004 – The Carinthian Regional Hospital Operating Company (KABEG) has hired Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and LBK Hamburg to re-design and transform a major Austrian hospital, LKH Klagenfurt.

Accenture -- a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company -- will team with LBK Hamburg, one of Europe´s foremost health providers, to transform the existing LKH Klagenfurt hospital into one of Europe’s most modern, patient-centric health centers. The contract is worth approximately US$4.5 million.

Under the agreement, Accenture and the LBK Hamburg subsidiary ConsiG will assume responsibility for reorienting the hospital’s clinical organization and processes and optimizing all administrative processes in a range of areas, including finance and human resources. As a result, the new hospital will focus on enhancing patient care as well as increasing efficiency to reduce operating costs. Ultimately, the 1,370-bed hospital will become the second-largest new hospital in Austria.

“Our aim is to develop a hospital center that provides the best medical care and focuses on the needs of patients and employees,” said the Commercial Director of the LKH, DI Herwig Wetzlinger. “We believe we will accomplish that under the plans for LKH Klagenfurt Neu.”

“Offering quality medicine at affordable prices is the only way to meet the rising demand for health services today,” said Prof. Heinz Lohmann, CEO of LBK Hamburg. “The concept for LKH Klagenfurt, based on our KLINOVA and ‘Stadtkrankenhaus Plus’ concepts, will enable LKH to provide the highest level of medical care at a modern facility.”

“Through our patient-centered care model, Accenture is helping medical centers around the world enhance the accessibility and quality of care,” said Harald Deutsch, partner in Accenture’s Health & Life Sciences practice. “These innovative processes at the heart of LKH Klagenfurt will be a model for the future of patient care across Europe.”

About KABEG
KABEG – the German-language acronym for ‘Carinthian Regional Hospital Operating Company’ – was originally founded in 1993 as an institution under public law. KABEG is responsible for ensuring that the population of the south Austrian region of Carinthia is provided with needs-determined and patient-oriented clinical care. The company administers public hospital centers in the local towns of Klagenfurt, Villach, Wolfsberg, Laas and Hermagor, with total capacity of 3,400 beds, and has a range of responsibilities related to planning, control, management and financing across all the hospitals. More than 7,200 employees provide over 130,000 patients with in-patient care and almost 500,000 people with out-patient care every year.

About LBK Hamburg
With approximately 12,000 employees, LBK Hamburg is one of the largest health service providers in Europe. The seven LBK hospital centers care for around 400,000 patients every year, around half of whom receive in-patient treatment. The company’s total annual revenue is around EUR 750 million per annum. With its new ‘KLINOVA’ and ‘Stadtkrankenhaus plus’ hospital models, LBK Hamburg is amongst the most innovative health service providers operating today. Increasingly, the Hamburg-based company is also providing forward-looking hospital concepts in international markets via its subsidiary company ConsiG, primarily through alliances with renowned partners in the health sector.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 100,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$13.67 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2004. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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