Merge Healthcare, a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, today announced Merge Honeycomb, a revolutionary new cloud-based service that will enable users to upload, download, view, and share medical images – at no cost.
"With Merge Honeycomb, we’re harnessing the cloud in a way that encourages and enables faster collaboration among all healthcare stakeholders, resulting in a true improvement in the delivery of care and reduction of costs," said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. "With the largest network of imaging clients by far, Merge is taking this important step to connect the healthcare industry and expand interoperability."
Announced today at the Merge Live 2011 Client Conference, attended by over 500 healthcare professionals, Merge Honeycomb will be the nation’s largest medical imaging sharing network and is open to anyone. Merge Honeycomb will officially be launched at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Conference in Chicago in November, 2011. Users can pre-register now for this free service at www.merge.com/honeycomb.aspx.
Merge Honeycomb will solve a myriad of costly healthcare challenges. It will reduce the need for duplicative scans, which costs the industry an average of $35 billion a year and exposes patients to harmful and unnecessary radiation. (According to a 2010 study by the Center for Devices and Radiological Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the radiation level in one CT scan of the abdomen is approximately the same as 400 chest x-rays.)
Merge Honeycomb will also eliminate the archaic practice of using patients as transport vehicles. The need to burn X-rays, CT Scans, MRIs and other images onto CDs will be a thing of the past. When a physician needs to view images, they can log into the image sharing network via any web browser.
It also speeds the time to treatment. Referring physicians will be able to view images in real-time and make diagnoses accordingly. And because the network is permission based, images can only be viewed by those who have been granted privilege.
"As a long time partner with Merge, we believe in the value of image sharing," said Gregory Veltri, CIO of Denver Health. "We’re excited about the technology and business possibilities, in addition to the potential quality benefits that may result from Merge moving to the cloud."
About Merge Healthcare
Merge Healthcare is a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, with a client base consisting of more than 1,500 hospitals and 6,000 clinics across the country. Merge solutions facilitate the sharing of images to create a more effective and efficient electronic healthcare experience for patients and physicians. Merge provides enterprise imaging solutions for radiology, cardiology, orthopaedics and eye care; a suite of products for clinical trials; software for financial and pre-surgical management, and applications that fuel the largest modality vendors in the world. Merge’s products have been used by healthcare providers, vendors and researchers worldwide to improve patient care for more than 20 years. Additional information can be found at www.merge.com.
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Merge Honeycomb as described herein is a works-in-progress. Merge Healthcare is not legally obligated to develop or continue to develop such works-in-progress that may include the features and functionality described herein.
Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters discussed in this news release may include forward-looking statements, which could involve a number of risks and uncertainties. When used in this press release, the words "will," "believes," "intends," "anticipates," "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any of the forward-looking statements.
CONTACT:
Press Contact:
Brenda Stewart
Director, Marketing Communications 773.726.8901
brenda.stewart@merge.com
Catherine Riedel
312.209.0250