Agfa positions itself as a leading IT healthcare provider

* First international launch of ORBIS Hospital Information System
* Unified product strategy in the PACS sector
* Joint exhibition stand at the Medica in Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf, Germany, November 16, 2005, 16:00
Agfa-Gevaert today announces the launch of ORBIS international at this year’s Medica trade fair in Düsseldorf, where Agfa and its subsidiary GWI are jointly exhibiting. ORBIS international is being launched in France and will soon be followed by Belgium and Italy.

One year after the announcement that Agfa would acquire GWI AG the company reports on tangible progress in the integration of its IT business.

In Germany and Austria, Agfa has further expanded the excellent position of the market-leading information systems ORBIS and IMPAX. With the agreed unified product strategy and the definition of ORBIS and IMPAX as strategic Agfa products, clear signals have been sent to the marketplace. The sales successes in Germany during the present year speak for themselves. As Walter Nackaerts, General Manager of Agfa HealthCare Germany, based in Cologne, explains: “We have implemented integration of the two companies in Germany speedily and successfully and have formed joint teams.”

Beyond the German-speaking markets, the IT company’s strategic products are clearly defined. The unified product range consists of the ORBIS Hospital Information System and the ORBIS RIS and IMPAX Diagnostic Information Systems. With these foremost information systems, which are European market leaders in terms of both functionality and technology, Agfa is now excellently positioned as an IT provider in the healthcare sector. Dr. Jörg Haas, a member of the Agfa Executive Committee Healthcare, points out that “with ORBIS we have been able to recruit our first Hospital Information System customers in France. Thanks to the internationalization of ORBIS - starting in France and soon to include Belgium and Italy - Agfa has become a key market player in the field of IT systems for healthcare applications. Our development teams in Ghent, Waterloo (Canada), Vienna and Trier cooperate very closely and form one of world’s largest and most innovative high-tech teams developing information systems for the healthcare sector.”

To provide intensive training and development for locally based personnel in the individual national organizations in the ORBIS Hospital Information System, the “Healthcare Academy” was founded in Bonn in October as part of the global “Agfa Academy”. In addition, the centralized control team, known as ROBIN (Roll Out ORBIS International), ensures that the sales, distribution, project planning and implementation of ORBIS is undertaken in a market-responsive and coordinated manner.

Marcel Swennenhuis, who has worldwide responsibility for RIS/PACS business, sums up the situation as follows: “With the highly homogeneous, cutting-edge ORBIS and IMPAX product range, Agfa is positioning itself among the front rank of IT providers for imaging diagnostics. This year we posted more than 40 orders for RIS/PACS in the German-speaking countries. Agfa is strongly placed throughout Europe and already plays a prominent role in the field of top-of-the-line hospital information systems.”

Contact Information

Geertrui De Smet

Global PR Manager HealthCare

Agfa-Gevaert

Contact via E-mail