Merge Healthcare passes interoperability tests at IHE Connectathon

As a part of its ongoing commitment to interoperability standards, Merge Healthcare (NASDAQ: MRGE), a leading health IT solutions provider, announced that it successfully passed interoperability tests at the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE), North American Connectathon event in Chicago, Illinois. During the testing, which connects vendor solutions to promote better electronic information exchange, Merge demonstrated interoperability with every vendor pairing, which included some of the largest companies in the world.

“For the last 20 years, Merge Healthcare has been a leader in standards-based interoperability in healthcare”

For the testing, Merge used the latest version of its Cedara WebAccess™, a portal technology platform that consolidates diagnostic data from multiple archives and seamlessly delivers them to physicians without the duplication of data or proprietary integration. Already licensed by several well-known vendors to “image-enable” EHR and HIE solutions, Cedara WebAccess provides a seamless way for physicians to view a patient’s entire medical history, complete with diagnostic reports and images.

At the Connectathon, Cedara WebAccess was successfully tested for compliance with profiles in the IHE Cross Enterprise Data Sharing (XDS) Framework, which was developed by IHE to facilitate sharing of patient information between participating facilities across a health information exchange. Specific profile results will be posted at: http://connectathon-results.ihe-europe.net/.

“For the last 20 years, Merge Healthcare has been a leader in standards-based interoperability in healthcare,” says Justin Dearborn, Merge CEO. “Through our work with DICOM, HL7 and IHE bodies, we are able to help foster adoption and deliver technology for robust connectivity within the latest medical information standards. Vendors are increasingly required to integrate their solutions into electronic information exchanges. Merge can deliver this interoperability to them through our toolkits and technologies.”

To further demonstrate its commitment to health IT standards, Merge Healthcare will participate in the Health Information and Management System Society (HIMSS) Interoperability Showcase in Atlanta, Georgia from March 1 - 3, 2010. This sought-after area of the trade show provides attendees education and examples of the latest health information exchange standards. In addition, Merge will exhibit its products at the HIMSS Conference (Hall C / Booth # 3143), as well as several partner booths.