Merge Healthcare, Insite One expand their contract to provide a universal viewing solution for archiving services

Merge Healthcare (NASDAQ:MRGE), announced today that InSite One, a leading service provider of medical data archiving, storage, and disaster-recovery solutions, has expanded its contract with Merge to provide a universal viewing solution for their InDex® archiving services. “We are excited about joining forces to bring new InDex® solutions into additional verticals within the healthcare market,” says Jim Champagne, President of InSite One, Inc. “We have shown our combined solution to several HIE organizations and enterprise clients, and our first implementation is already underway.”

“Our continued innovation in imaging software allows us to change the healthcare information distribution paradigm by the intuitive inclusion of images and radiology reports. We are thrilled to work with InSite One, a long-time partner, to bring this innovative solution to the market,” said Antonia Wells, President of Merge’s OEM division.

The new zero-footprint technology provides clinicians and CIOs with a solution that overcomes the challenges associated with the distribution of images over a wide area network. Image distribution solutions typically involve expensive hardware, high IT support/deployment costs, platform compatibility issues and high bandwidth requirements. Using InDex Web™, with integrated Cedara WebAccess™ technology from Merge, physicians are able to obtain patient information via a web browser at the point-of-care through their laptops, tablets and smart phones such as Apple iPhone™ and Blackberry® Bold™.

“Medical images are a critical component of a patient’s health record, because the ability to access a patient’s imaging history and understand diagnostic rationale helps clinicians minimize duplicative scans and reduce a patient’s exposure to radiation,” says Mitch Goldburgh, Sr. Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at InSite One. “However, the sharing of medical images and reports across an HIE has traditionally been considered cost-prohibitive. Leveraging Merge’s expertise in imaging and connectivity, InSite One is bringing to market a solution that makes such sharing of information both financially and technically feasible.”

Merge and InSite One will be conducting a panel discussion on “Getting Radiology Info into HIE” at the Radiological Society of North America conference being held in Chicago from November 29^th through December 4, 2009. Ms. Wells and Mr. Goldburgh will both be on hand to further explain this new approach to image-enabling HIEs. More information can be found at www.merge.com/rsna.