CHICAGO, June 18, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Merge Healthcare Incorporated (Nasdaq:MRGE), a leading provider of clinical systems and innovations that seek to transform healthcare, today announced that St. Mary's Healthcare System has selected Merge's iConnect Access and iConnect Enterprise Archive to support their enterprise imaging strategy.
"Since we already use many Merge solutions including Merge PACS™, Merge Cardio™ and Merge Hemo™ across our enterprise, Merge's iConnect Enterprise Archive was a natural extension of our long-standing partnership," explained Brain Duncan, Manager of Radiology Services at St. Mary's. "Furthermore, we selected Merge's vendor-neutral archive because we believe that by using the information life cycle management polices within the enterprise archive, we will see extensive storage cost savings both now and well into the future."
"Additionally, as we work closely with referring providers in the Athens area, we need to get data to others quickly and easily. Because iConnect Access is a zero-footprint, web-based viewer, referring physicians can view images anywhere, including on mobile devices, which has made my life a lot easier," added Duncan. "Plus, iConnect Access image-enables our Meditech EMR to ensure that we're ready to meet the Stage Two requirements of Meaningful Use."
"We are pleased to see a longstanding client like St. Mary's standardize on Merge solutions throughout their enterprise," added Jeff Surges, CEO, Merge Healthcare. "The combination of iConnect Enterprise Archive and iConnect Access will further extend the value of their existing Merge solutions and ensure that their imaging strategy can scale to meet the growing needs for their owned and referring physician communities."
Merge's iConnect Enterprise Clinical Platform is the industry's only comprehensive solution for collecting, archiving, viewing, sharing and exchanging any type of image, anywhere, any time. It includes iConnect Access*, a zero-download DICOM image and XDS server, iConnect Share, a gateway for image sharing across the enterprise and iConnect Enterprise Archive, a vendor-neutral archive (VNA) to create an enterprise imaging strategy. It works with existing applications, leveraging widely-used web and healthcare technology standards, to provide a vendor neutral interoperable environment.
A recent InMedica study reported iConnect Enterprise Archive as the world's #1 VNA, storing over 15 billion images. As the industry's first true standalone VNA, it has been successfully integrated with over seventy-five PACS vendors and specialty workstations at over 350 sites across the United States. In over half of the implementations, Merge's customers have integrated third-party PACS with iConnect Enterprise Archive.
*iConnect Access is not FDA-cleared for diagnostic use on mobile devices.
About Merge Healthcare
Merge is a leading provider of clinical systems and innovations that seek to transform healthcare. Merge's enterprise and cloud-based solutions for image intensive specialties provide access to any image, anywhere, any time. Merge also provides health stations, clinical trials software and other health data and analytics solutions that engage consumers in their personal health. With solutions that are used by providers and consumers and include more than 25 years of innovation, Merge is helping to reduce costs and improve the quality of healthcare worldwide. For more information, visit merge.com.