Kodak to Support BUPA Hospitals’ Transition to Digital Medical Imaging-Information Management

26 U.K. Hospitals Involved in Project

VIENNA, March 3 -- Eastman Kodak Company and BUPA, an international health and care organization, today announced an agreement where Kodak will support BUPA’s 26 hospitals across the United Kingdom in transitioning to digital medical imaging and information management.

The agreement, announced at the European Congress of Radiology in Vienna, Austria, will involve the deployment of KODAK CARESTREAM Radiology Solution and Enterprise Information Management Solution platforms. These platforms will facilitate the generation and storage of patients’ radiology images, as well as the remote reporting of radiology exams within and between the BUPA hospitals. Kodak will support the deployment with a range of professional services including project management, implementation and training.

Kodak’s patient-centric platforms will provide transition for the current diagnostic workload, plus a rapidly scaleable infrastructure for future diagnostic service expansion.

A BUPA Data Centre will provide the hub for a clinical repository for long-term image storage and to support image sharing between the 26 BUPA hospitals, plus secure Web reporting across the BUPA Hospitals network. Local picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) will be deployed at each hospital to provide digital image capture from hospital modalities, local diagnostic reporting and Web distribution of images.

“Deployment of KODAK CARESTREAM Solutions throughout the BUPA network will support our company’s future growth,” said Clare Hollingsworth, managing director, BUPA Hospitals Limited. “The ability to share and display digital patient images between clinical sites will help us to maintain our high-quality patient care and improve radiologist workflow.”

"We are delighted that BUPA has chosen Kodak to deliver such an innovative e-health solution to its hospital network,” said Ian Marron, Director, e-health Solutions for Kodak’s Europe, Africa & Middle East Region (EAMER). “This is a great endorsement for our integrated radiology solution.”

Kodak’s proven RIS-PACS and storage management solutions are currently successfully deployed at healthcare facilities around the world, including more than 250 sites across the European Union. Kodak has signed more than 70 new customers for these solutions in the past 12 months.

Implementation across BUPA Hospitals will begin upon completion of site surveys at the end of March followed by a phased rollout.

About BUPA

Set up in 1947, BUPA is a broad-based health and care organization with a growing international presence. It has 7.8 million customers in 180 countries and 40,000 employees. Its main interests are health insurance, hospitals, care services for older people and young disabled, health assessments, workplace health and childcare services.

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. Its broad portfolio includes picture archiving and communications systems (PACS), radiology information systems (RIS), healthcare information systems, computed radiography (CR) and digital radiography (DR) systems, laser imagers, mammography and oncology systems, x-ray film systems, dental imaging products, and a range of consulting—as well as repair and maintenance—services.

Kodak is the world’s foremost imaging innovator, providing leading products and services to not only healthcare customers, but 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.
(Note: KODAK and CARESTREAM are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company.) 2006

Contact Information

Sabina Bucciarelli

Health Group Products Europe

Eastman Kodak Company

Contact via E-mail