Media Contacts:
David Wilkins
(734) 913-3397
david.wilkins@thomson.com

John Roderick
(631) 656-9736
john@jroderick.com

For Those Hospitals Improving in Quality and Efficiency, Outpatient Growth Is a Key Business Outcome

Ann Arbor, Mich.—August 6, 2007—U.S. hospitals that are improving the fastest and most consistently in clinical quality and efficiency also are employing strategies that grow their outpatient services, according to a study released today by Thomson Healthcare.

Thomson Healthcare is a part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC).

The study – Thomson 100 Top Hospitals®: Performance Improvement Leaders, 4th Edition – examined the performance of more than 2,800 U.S. hospitals in a variety of clinical, financial, and operational areas and identified 100 hospitals that improved the most from 2001 to 2005.

"These Performance Improvement Leaders are bellwethers for the progress the entire hospital industry has pursued since the Institute of Medicine published its landmark study, Crossing the Quality Chasm, in 2001," said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals programs at Thomson Healthcare. "They are an important group to watch because they demonstrate a variety of ways that real improvement can be achieved in many key areas across the hospital organization simultaneously over an extended timeframe."

The study found that the Thomson Performance Improvement Leaders were more successful than other hospitals in growing outpatient services. Here are two examples:

• Performance Improvement Leaders grew their outpatient volume for heart disease care 19.1 percent, nearly double the 9.9 percent growth recorded by other hospitals. This suggests they were more successful in anticipating and responding to a significant shift in clinical care and market dynamics — a decline in open-heart surgeries and greater use of less-invasive interventions such as balloon angioplasties and stents administered via cardiac catheterization.
• Performance Improvement Leaders had a 33.1 percent increase in outpatient volume for endocrine and metabolic disease, compared with 23.6 percent growth at peer hospitals. One explanation may be that the most-improved hospitals are offering more outpatient services to patients in this category, which include diabetes.

The study rated hospitals on eight factors that reflect clinical outcomes and efficiency, financial strength, and market growth — patient mortality, medical complications, patient safety, length of stay, expenses, profitability, cash-to-debt ratio, and growth in patient volume. Researchers evaluated 2,897 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals grouped into five categories: major teaching hospitals, other teaching hospitals, large community hospitals, medium-sized community hospitals, and small community hospitals.
"This recognition is a tribute to the winning hospitals’ management teams, which are providing enormous value to their communities," Chenoweth said.

From 2001 to 2005, the 100 Top Hospitals Performance Improvement Leaders:

• Went from having more patient deaths, complications, and adverse safety events than expected to fewer than expected.
• Increased expenses only 6 percent during the five-year study period, on average, compared with an 18 percent increase among their peer hospitals.
• Rose from unprofitability to an average profit margin of 5.9 percent.
• Trimmed their average length-of-stay by nearly a day, despite treating a sicker population of patients.

The Thomson 100 Top Performance Leaders study analyzed publicly available Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data, and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) outpatient data.

About the Thomson 100 Top Hospitals Program
The longstanding Solucient 100 Top Hospitals program was renamed this year, when the Thomson Corporation acquired Solucient, LLC, and integrated it into Thomson Healthcare, a leading provider of healthcare information and decision support solutions.

About Thomson Healthcare
Thomson Healthcare is the leading provider of decision support solutions that help organizations across the healthcare industry improve clinical and business performance. Thomson Healthcare products and services help clinicians, hospitals, employers, health plans, government agencies, and pharmaceutical companies manage the cost and improve the quality of healthcare.

Thomson Healthcare is a part of The Thomson Corporation, a provider of value-added information, software tools and applications to professionals in the fields of healthcare, law, tax, accounting, scientific research, and financial services. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC). For more information, visit (www.thomsonhealthcare.com).

Media Notes:
A list of the 100 Performance Leaders is available at http://www.100tophospitals.com/winners/pilwinners.aspx. More information on these studies and other 100 Top Hospitals research is available at www.100tophospitals.com. An executive summary of the 100 Top Hospitals: Performance Improvement Leaders, 2006 study is available to the media by emailing david.wilkins@thomson.com or by registering at http://www.100tophospitals.com/media/Register.asp. To schedule an interview with Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president, performance improvement and 100 Top Hospitals programs, Center for Healthcare Improvement, Thomson Healthcare, contact David Wilkins at (734) 913-3397 or david.wilkins@thomson.com.

2006 Thomson 100 Top Hospitals: Performance Improvement Leaders
Note: Order does not reflect performance ranking. Hospitals are ordered by Medicare ID.

Major Teaching Hospitals (15)
UAB Hospital, Birmingham, AL
Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Stanford, CA
Christiana Hospital, Newark, DE
University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital, Lexington, KY
Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston, MA
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
UMass Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, MA
The Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, NJ
Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY
New York Hospital Queens, Flushing, NY
Montefiore Medical Center-Moses Division Hospital, Bronx, NY
Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, Houston, TX

Teaching Hospitals (25)
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Tallahassee, FL
Emory Crawford Long Hospital, Atlanta, GA
Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center-South Bend, South Bend, IN
Community Hospital East, Indianapolis, IN
Via Christi Regional Medical Center, Wichita, KS
NSMC Union Hospital, Lynn, MA
Munson Medical Center, Traverse City, MI
McLaren Regional Medical Center, Flint, MI
MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland, Midland, MI
Garden City Hospital, Garden City, MI
St. Cloud Hospital, St. Cloud, MN
St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ
Community General Hospital, Syracuse, NY
Crouse Hospital, Syracuse, NY
St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, Toledo, OH
Community Medical Center, Scranton, PA
PinnacleHealth, Harrisburg, PA
Robert Packer Hospital, Sayre, PA
Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis, Memphis, TN
Medical Center Hospital, Odessa, TX
Midland Memorial Hospital, Midland, TX
Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, Provo, UT
Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA
Meriter Hospital, Madison, WI

Large Community Hospitals (20)
Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital, Florence, AL
Jackson Hospital, Montgomery, AL
NCH Downtown Naples Hospital, Naples, FL
Flagler Hospital, St. Augustine, FL
Indian River Medical Center, Vero Beach, FL
Boca Raton Community Hospital, Boca Raton, FL
St. Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Saint Joseph Hospital, Lexington, KY
Baptist Hospital East, Louisville, KY
St. John's Regional Medical Center, Joplin, MO
St. Anthony's Medical Center, St. Louis, MO
Benefis Healthcare, Great Falls, MT
Holy Name Hospital, Teaneck, NJ
Clara Maass Medical Center, Belleville, NJ
Orange Regional Medical Center, Goshen, NY
Excela Health Westmoreland, Greensburg, PA
St. Mary's Medical Center, Knoxville, TN
Citizens Medical Center, Victoria, TX
Seton Medical Center Austin, Austin, TX
Mother Frances Hospital-Tyler, Tyler, TX

Medium Community Hospitals (20)
Baxter Regional Medical Center, Mountain Home, AR
Pacific Alliance Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Brooksville Regional Hospital, Brooksville, FL
Hilo Medical Center, Hilo, HI
Hawaii Medical Center East, Honolulu, HI
Mercy Medical Center, Nampa, ID
Murray-Calloway County Hospital, Murray, KY
Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center, Danville, KY
Saint Joseph East, Lexington, KY
Lowell General Hospital, Lowell, MA
Magnolia Regional Health Center, Corinth, MS
St. James Mercy Hospital, Hornell, NY
Rutherford Hospital, Inc., Rutherfordton, NC
Medcenter One Hospital, Bismarck, ND
Marion General Hospital, Marion, OH
Southwest General Health Center, Middleburg Heights, OH
Pocono Medical Center, East Stroudsburg, PA
Cookeville Regional Medical Center, Cookeville, TN
Evergreen Hospital Medical Center, Kirkland, WA
St. Michael's Hospital, Stevens Point, WI

Small Community Hospitals (20)
Payson Regional Medical Center, Payson, AZ
Jackson Hospital, Marianna, FL
Northside Hospital-Forsyth, Cumming, GA
Walton Regional Medical Center, Monroe, GA
St. Joseph Regional Medical Center-Mishawaka, Mishawaka, IN
St. Joseph Regional Medical Center-Plymouth, Plymouth, IN
Baptist Hospital Northeast, LaGrange, KY
Mecosta County Medical Center, Big Rapids, MI
Lake Region Hospital, Fergus Falls, MN
St. Anthony Community Hospital, Warwick, NY
Spruce Pine Community Hospital, Spruce Pine, NC
Gettysburg Hospital, Gettysburg, PA
Brownsville General Hospital, Brownsville, PA
McNairy Regional Hospital, Selmer, TN
Woods Memorial Hospital District, Etowah, TN
Baptist Hospital of Cocke County, Newport, TN
Bolivar General Hospital, Bolivar, TN
Aurora Medical Center, Two Rivers, WI
Sheridan Memorial Hospital, Sheridan, WY
Riverton Memorial Hospital, Riverton, WY