Merge Healthcare Showcases Continued Innovation for Imaging Practices and OEM Providers at RSNA 2008

NEW YORK (radRounds) -- Merge Healthcare will highlight many solutions including the industry-leading eFilm Workstation™ and MergeCOM™ toolkits, as well as new offerings from both its direct imaging division (Fusion solution suite) and OEM division (Cedara solution suite). The RSNA 2008 portfolio reflects Merge’s longstanding history of innovation, from its start as one of the first companies to build DICOM solutions for the imaging industry, to a wide range of new offerings for radiology practices seeking to optimize quality and productivity and for VARS and OEMs seeking to expertly get new products to market in a timely and efficient manner.

FOR RADIOLOGY PRACTICES, IMAGING CENTERS AND HOSPITALS:

* Merge Managed Services™ (launched September 2008) – Merge’s Disaster Recovery service ensures efficient and accurate data transmission, backup, storage and recovery. The cost-per-study model helps eliminate high capital costs, maintenance fees, upgrades and staffing typically associated with self-directed data duplication and management. During system failure, unplanned downtime or natural disaster, organizations can rely on HIPAA-compliant back-up and immediate availability of images and information.
* Fusion PACS MX™ 3.0 with integrated digital mammography - In May 2008, Merge unveiled its newest version of Fusion PACS MX, with advanced integration technology to help improve radiologist efficiency and satisfaction. Merge Mammo can be launched right at the PACS workstation, eliminating need for separate worklists and for sending mammography studies to a different workstation. 64-bit compatibility allows quicker loading of large breast studies and priors.
* Fusion RIS/PACS MX™ 4.2 moves beyond simple interfacing of RIS and PACS, and provides radiologists with single-desktop access to a Patient Master Jacket, providing all information required for reading and reporting on exams. Merge will show a Works in Progress of the system’s new Fusion Billing™ solution to add revenue cycle management capabilities, and upcoming Fusion Web™solutions for enhanced referring practice and patient portals.
* eFilm Workstation™ - This is one of the world’s most widely used desktop diagnostic imaging workstations and supports daily workflow in any imaging environment. Recent product updates include eFilm for Microsoft® Vista , Hanging Protocol Builder and Cardiothoracic Ratio. Also, this past year Merge added new eFilm user services such as the eFilm Community™ and eFilm Live Training™ sessions.


FOR IMAGING COMPANIES, DEVICE MANUFACTURERS AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES:

* Cedara WebAccess™ is a new technology consisting of a completely thin client solution that provides fast and easy access to images & reports for referring physicians. This solution requires absolutely no download or installation on the client machine and hence requires minimal maintenance and support. By integrating Cedara WebAccess into PACS applications, OEMs can offer significantly reduced film printing, CD burning and report distribution costs.
* Cedara WebScheduler™, a new solution for vendors seeking to add scheduling capabilities to imaging business solutions, allows central management and scheduling of all imaging resources and provides a unified view of available timeslots. It has features like modality worklist creation, smart search, procedure time tracking, active order dashboard and color-coded status to make scheduling very easy. The application can be customized to reflect individual sites, including their modalities, procedures and referring physicians.
* Cedara I-ResponseTM is an application designed to support clinical trial workflows and oncology viewing. I-Response supports key concepts of double-blind reading, registration, advanced segmentation, comparison of multiple time points and support for clinical trial rules. I-Response has three distinct analysis techniques: Lesion Analysis (for creating/exporting the RECIST, WHO and Volume measurements,) PET/CT Analysis (for comparing SUV values over multiple time points and Functional Diffusion Mapping (fDM) Analysis (to support a patented MR tumor analysis technique that tracks changes in tumors at the metabolic or cellular level over multiple time points.)

Merge is at South Building Hall A, #4058, or visit Merge ahead of RSNA at www.merge.com/rsna2008.