Health System Orders KODAK Enterprise Information Management Solution, PACS for Three Hospitals

KODAK Professional Services Will Perform RIS Integration, Data Migration

Rochester, N.Y., February 10 -- West Penn Allegheny Health System, Pittsburgh, Pa., has ordered picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) and enterprise information management (EIM) as well as project management, data migration and integration services from Eastman Kodak Company’s Health Group.

The health system conducted an extensive evaluation process prior to selecting the KODAK CARESTREAM PACS for The Western Pennsylvania Hospital and Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) in Pittsburgh and The Western Pennsylvania Hospital Forbes Regional Campus in Monroeville, Pa.

“We needed a vendor that could work on design and implementation at three sites concurrently and was equipped to perform smooth desktop integration with our selected radiology information system (RIS),” said Nick Valadja, Vice President and CIO of West Penn Allegheny Health System. “Kodak proved they had expertise to handle this task, and we are on schedule for all three hospitals to go live within three months. PACS is one part of our comprehensive information systems strategy to provide our caregivers with access to patient care information anytime or anywhere.”

This contract is a five-year operating lease in which the health system pays for equipment and services on a usage basis. Implementation is underway, and the RIS/PACS solution at all three hospitals is expected to be operational this fall.

Kodak’s Professional Services organization will manage this large-scale project, which involves replacing an existing PACS at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital and installing PACS for the first time at the two other facilities. Kodak will migrate data from the existing PACS and will provide desktop integration of its PACS with an IDX RIS platform at all locations. Kodak’s solution will also include real-time replication of RIS/PACS data at the health system’s data center to address disaster recovery needs.

This solution will also extend beyond the radiology department: A KODAK CARESTREAM Enterprise Information Management Solution will equip the healthcare system to manage images and information stored in dozens of existing patient care and office applications, including at a new outpatient imaging center in McCandless, Pa.

“Incorporating the PACS system into West Penn Allegheny’s clinical operations will greatly enhance patient care by facilitating computer access to diagnostic images anywhere within our facilities, remotely in physician offices or even at physicians’ homes. Patients, particularly those whose care involves a variety of physicians within the system, will notice a more seamless, efficient level of care with this technology,” according to H. Scott Beasley, Chairman of Department of Radiology at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital.

Beasley, along with Paul Kiproff, M.D., Chairman of AGH’s Department of Radiology and Maureen Bidula, M.D., Vice Chairman of Radiology, Western Pennsylvania Hospital’s Forbes Regional Campus, are leading the PACS implementation at their respective sites.

Kodak’s CARESTREAM Enterprise Information Management Solution provides access to DICOM and other information distributed across multiple sites, storage platforms and architectures associated with clinical and back office systems. It enables healthcare providers to add new storage technologies or devices at any time, and to implement centralized storage with a single database. The EIM solution’s configurable storage plans conduct automatic, intelligent lifecycle management based upon an understanding of the nature of the data and its storage requirements.



About West Penn Allegheny Health System

West Penn Allegheny Health System (WPAHS) includes some of the oldest and best-known names in health care in western Pennsylvania.

Comprised of two tertiary and four community hospitals, WPAHS includes Allegheny General Hospital and The Western Pennsylvania Hospital, both in Pittsburgh; Alle-Kiski Medical Center in Natrona Heights; Canonsburg General Hospital in Canonsburg; The Western Pennsylvania Hospital - Forbes Regional Campus in Monroeville; and AGH-Suburban Campus in Bellevue. Offering a comprehensive range of medical and surgical services, the hospitals serve Pittsburgh and the surrounding five-state area, house more than 2,000 beds and employ more than 13,000 people.

Together, the WPAHS hospitals admit more than 80,000 patients each year, log in excess of 173,000 emergency visits and deliver nearly 6,000 newborns. Combined, the hospitals are among the leaders in percentages of total surgeries, cardiac surgeries, neurosurgeries and cardiac catheterization procedures performed throughout the region. For more information, please visit www.wpahs.org.

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, DIRECTVIEW and CARESTREAM are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company. 2006

Contact Information

John LaBella

Health Group Products, Services, Solutions

Eastman Kodak Company

Contact via E-mail