AGFA GEVAERT : Agfa HealthCare targets greater efficiencies and collaboration in Enterprise Imaging during HIMSS 2014 as ICIS becomes the “Gold Standard” for the evolution of visual healthcare

- ICIS Transfer expands clinical and medical image sharing and collaborative patient care across HIEs and ACOs - New "single sign-on, single view" format enables clinicians to quickly and easily see relevant images from any workstation or device - Support of non-DICOM and DICOM data formats facilitates storage and access of medical imaging information, multimedia information, and paper documents in one comprehensive platform

Cementing its leadership position in the "Visual Healthcare Evolution," during HIMSS 2014 Agfa HealthCare will unveil several enhancements to ICIS, its industry-leading enterprise imaging information management system, that leverage IT strategies to advance collaboration among clinicians within a hospital and promote greater operational efficiencies and cost savings throughout an entire health system. As the "gold standard" for image-enabling the EHR, ICIS unifies patient records by integrating and linking multi-facility, multi-departmental and multi-specialty imaging data, providing the ability to capture, store, access and exchange images generated by a health system.

"Medical images, such as CT scans, x-rays, MRIs and ultrasounds, as well as digital images of wounds, surgery, ophthalmology and dermatology, have become essential elements to the patient care continuum, often determining how a patient is treated and when additional intervention is required. Yet, in many hospitals and health systems, medical images are not accessible via a patient's electronic health record and are often 'siloed' within the department in which they were generated," said Michael Green, president, Agfa HealthCare Americas Region. "Agfa HealthCare is developing ICIS to meet this challenge head-on and to advance what we see as a rapidly advancing 'visual healthcare evolution.' By embracing cross-department and enterprise access to medical images, hospitals and health systems have the opportunity to enhance overall patient care, improve procedure and cost efficiencies, and advance meaningful use of the EHR."

During HIMSS 2014, Agfa HealthCare will showcase its vision for advancing universal image and data sharing throughout the health enterprise. Among its initiatives at the event, Agfa HealthCare will be launching several enhancements to the ICIS platform, including ICIS Transfer, which further empowers image sharing across HIEs and ACOs, and a new "single sign-on, single view" format that enables clinicians to quickly and easily see relevant images from any workstation or device.

Additionally, Agfa HealthCare will be sponsoring the "HIMSS Enterprise Imaging Educational Breakfast" on February 25, 2014 from 7:00 - 8:30 a.m. Cheryl Petersilge, MD, Medical Director, Enterprise Imaging, Cleveland Clinic, and Louis M. Lannum, Director, Enterprise Imaging, Cleveland Clinic will be the featured speakers in an exclusive, invitation-only thought leadership program focused on the importance of patient-centric image accessibility in an enterprise-wide EHR.

"Seamless access to medical images can have a significant impact in the care a patient receives and his or her ongoing treatment, while enabling hospitals to deliver optimal, efficient and cost-effective services," stated James Jay, Vice President, Imaging IT Solutions, Agfa HealthCare. "As ICIS becomes the 'gold standard' for enterprise medical imaging, Agfa HealthCare is continually identifying opportunities to enhance the productivity of the platform by always keeping an eye towards the clinician and the hospital IT infrastructure. The enhancements we are unveiling at HIMSS 2014 were developed as part of this broader vision."