Park Ridge Hospital Will Transform Radiology Department with Advanced Digital Technology and Services From Kodak

ROCHESTER, NY, June 30 -- Under a multi-million-dollar agreement announced today, Park Ridge Hospital, here, will contract with Eastman Kodak Company to transform the hospital’s film-based radiology department to a state-of-the art operation featuring the latest digital image and information management technologies. Additional financial details were not released.

The transformation, scheduled for completion by year-end, will make Park Ridge’s medical imaging capabilities among the most advanced in the region.

Under the agreement, Park Ridge will purchase KODAK CARESTREAM PACS (picture archiving and communications system) for the review, storage and distribution of patient radiology images; and KODAK CARESTREAM Enterprise Information Management (EIM), which will enable centralized management of images and information - such as physicians’ reports and administrative documents - from radiology, cardiology and other clinical and business areas.

The agreement also calls for Kodak consultants to help redesign Park Ridge’s radiology workflow to maximize the many efficiency gains now possible with CARESTREAM solutions.

Compelling Benefits

“Kodak’s solutions offer compelling benefits,” said John Glynn, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Park Ridge, a leading community hospital in the greater Rochester area.

Among the benefits are:

* Higher level of patient care. Innovative diagnostic reading tools with Kodak’s PACS, such as 3D image display, increase diagnostic confidence. “Our radiologists will be able to spot abnormalities more readily, which can lead to earlier detection and improved patient care,” Susan Sproule, Senior Director of Nursing & Patient Care Services, Park Ridge Hospital.
* Faster review of patients’ medical imaging exams. Hand-delivering medical films to radiologists for review will be a thing of the past at Park Ridge. “Instead, the Kodak PACS will enable us to transmit medical images electronically for viewing and diagnosis on a computer screen,” Sproule explained. “In fact, we will be able to transmit to radiologists and referring physicians simultaneously, speeding the diagnostic process and significantly reducing patient wait times.”
* ‘Round-the-clock access to radiology images and reports. Kodak’s solutions will enable Park Ridge to send imaging studies to radiologists and referring physicians over the Internet - anytime, anywhere. “Even if a radiologist or referring physician is at home or is attending a medical conference in another city or country, he or she can have total access to patient images and information,” Sproule noted.
* Easier access to prior exams, and fewer lost films. “Today, our medical images are stored in hardcopy files in a remote part of the hospital,” Sproule pointed out. “When patients come in for follow up exams, we must retrieve prior images from these files, so comparisons can be made with new images. Doing so takes considerable time, and occasionally the films are incorrectly filed or lost. Moving to Kodak digital solutions will alleviate these problems, since medical images and related information can be stored electronically - in a highly organized fashion - and can be retrieved with the click of a mouse.”
* Operating efficiencies. With CARESTREAM EIM, Park Ridge will be able to more efficiently manage images and information stored in a variety of IT systems across the hospital - in departments ranging from cardiology and radiology, to admissions, pharmacy and surgery. “EIM will help us reduce expenses by providing intelligent, automated management tools and by equipping us with centralized management of our decentralized storage systems,” Park Ridge CIO Glynn pointed out. “More important, perhaps, our different departments will be able to share each others’ databases via a couple mouse clicks. Consequently, exchanging patient information, such as exams, prescriptions and billing information, will become easy.”

Why Kodak Won Bid

Park Ridge officials evaluated seven Kodak competitors before choosing the CARESTREAM solutions. One of the key factors influencing their choice: Kodak’s medical imaging and IT systems “are so advanced they will serve our hospital well into the next decade,” Glynn said.

When installation of the systems begins in July, the Professional Services team within Kodak’s Health Group will examine and map the existing workflow in Park Ridge’s radiology department. “The Kodak team will then recommend an optimal workflow for the new digital environment, pointing out the many benefits it will render,” Glynn said.

“We are proud that Park Ridge Hospital chose to do business with Kodak’s Health Group,” said R.L. (Vern) Davenport, Chief Operations Officer, Healthcare Information Solutions, and Vice President of Kodak’s Health Group. “The selection committee’s choice of Kodak and our products serves as one of many proof points for the great future we envision for our business.”

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About Park Ridge Hospital

Park Ridge Hospital is an affiliate of Unity Health System, a 681-bed health care network serving the city of Rochester and western Monroe County. Specialty units include intensive care, surgery, psychiatry and behavioral health, obstetrics, brain injury rehabilitation, and skilled nursing. Park Ridge Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals and Health Care Organizations (JCAHO), is affiliated with the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Park Ridge Hospital has been recognized with the 2006 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence ™ from HealthGrades, the nations leading independent healthcare ratings organization.
About Kodak’s Health Group

Kodak’s Health Group, with 2005 revenues of $2.65 billion, is a world leader in supplying the medical and dental professions with advanced healthcare products, services and information technology solutions.

Kodak is the world’s foremost imaging innovator, providing leading products and services to not only healthcare customers, but also to the photographic and graphic communications markets. With sales of $14.3 billion in 2005, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on helping people better use meaningful images and information in their life and work. Consumers use Kodak’s system of digital and traditional image capture products and services to take, print and share their pictures anytime, anywhere; Businesses effectively communicate with customers worldwide using Kodak solutions for prepress, conventional and digital printing and document imaging; and Creative Professionals rely on Kodak technology to uniquely tell their story through moving or still images.
For more information about Kodak’s Health Group, contact your Kodak representative or visit www.kodak.com/go/health.
KODAK and CARESTREAM are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company.
2006

Contact Information

John LaBella

Health Group Products (Global, North America)

Eastman Kodak Company

Contact via E-mail