Also Upgrades to Merge PACS to Standardize Enterprise-Wide Imaging Around Merge Solutions
CHICAGO, Oct. 18, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Merge Healthcare Incorporated (Nasdaq:MRGE), a leading provider of clinical systems and innovations that seek to transform healthcare, today announced Wenatchee Valley Medical Center (WVMC) has selected Merge PACSTM to upgrade their existing PACS and Merge’s iConnect® Enterprise Archive to provide real-time access to images and information for care providers across their region.
“WVMC is a large rural healthcare delivery system with a regional focus and a commitment to serve patient needs. To effectively deliver on that mission, we’re establishing a regional health information exchange (HIE) that will allow sister organizations like Central Washington Hospital (CWH) and other regional hospitals to have anywhere, any time access to patient images and data,” said Jay Johnson, Associate Administrator, WVMC. “Merge’s iConnect Enterprise Archive will serve as the backbone for this initiative and its advanced replicated content management capabilities will ensure a fully redundant disaster recovery solution for imaging across our enterprise and region.”
“We are pleased to be a part of the initiative to develop a health information exchange for images in our region,” added John Hamilton, Interim CEO, CWH. “We previously selected Merge’s iConnect® Share and iConnect Enterprise Archive as well. The seamless combination of these solutions will allow our two organizations and others in our area to easily share and access patient images.”
“While we’re working to develop our regional exchange, we also made the decision to upgrade our PACS to Merge PACS,” added Karla Gustafsson, Associate Director of Radiology. “We’re excited about the clinical, operational and administrative efficiencies that we believe this will deliver to our busy radiologists.”
“We are pleased to see WVMC, a long-time Merge client, extend our solutions across their enterprise,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. “Diagnostic images are a critical component of a patient’s electronic medical record. By being able to deliver those images faster and by providing better access to that content, our iConnect solutions will assist physicians to more quickly diagnose patients across the entire North Central Washington region.”
iConnect Enterprise Archive and iConnect Share are part of the iConnect® Enterprise Clinical platform, Merge’s comprehensive offering for viewing, sharing and archiving any type of image, anywhere, any time. It also includes iConnect Access*, a zero-download DICOM image and XDS server. iConnect Enterprise Archive acts as the backbone of an enterprise imaging strategy. With current trends in patient safety and healthcare reform as well as competition for referring physicians, the need for image sharing across the enterprise is more critical than ever.
A recent InMedica study reported iConnect Enterprise Archive as the world’s #1 vendor-neutral archive. As the industry’s first true standalone vendor-neutral archive, it has been successfully integrated with over seventy-five PACS vendors and specialty workstations at over 350 sites across the United States. In over half of the implementations, Merge’s customers have integrated third-party PACS systems with iConnect Enterprise Archive.
Merge PACS, a real-time picture archiving communication system, enhances clinical, operational and administrative functions with an approach that emphasizes workflow efficiency and customer satisfaction. Its modular design allows for easy integration with a broad range of third-party systems.
*iConnect Access is not FDA‐cleared for diagnostic use on mobile devices.
About Merge
Merge is a leading provider of clinical systems and innovations that seek to transform healthcare. Merge’s enterprise and cloud-based solutions for image intensive specialties provide access to any image, anywhere, any time. Merge also provides health stations, clinical trials software and other health data and analytics solutions that engage consumers in their personal health. With solutions that are used by providers and consumers and include more than 20 years of innovation, Merge is helping to reduce costs and improve the quality of healthcare worldwide. For more information, visit merge.com.
