In a move to adopt a single vendor imaging informatics platform for its system-wide needs, WellStar Health System signed a new agreement with Agfa HealthCare for the company's Enterprise Imaging platform. The comprehensive suite of enterprise software applications will allow the health system to connect its clinicians with patient imaging information across multiple hospitals and hundreds of ambulatory care locations across Georgia.

By consolidating imaging systems, WellStar's providers will have rapid access to imaging information and be better able to communicate with providers across the care continuum.  WellStar will utilize the entire suite of Enterprise Imaging solutions, which include:

• Enterprise Imaging for Radiology - a highly customizable workflow tool designed for radiologists to enable optimal efficiency and effectiveness in reading radiological studies.

• Enterprise Imaging Exchange - allows fast, secure, reliable transfer of multiple types of patient studies.

• Enterprise Imaging Vendor-Neutral Archive - consolidates imaging data from multiple systems, departments, facilities and vendors into a central clinical data foundation.

• Web-based XERO^® universal image viewer - provides secure access to DICOM and non-DICOM imaging data from different departments and multiple sources, in one view, to clinicians inside and outside of the hospital.

• Standardized Departmental Workflows - allow all image-producing service lines to capture and associate imaging studies with an episode of care, to drive enterprise-wide efficiency.

With Agfa's platform, clinicians can view and share imaging data securely, no matter where they practice medicine. A variety of multimedia and textual information can be captured in a variety of ways across the care continuum and associated with patient encounters - including video and still images.

"As the largest health system in Georgia, it is essential that our investments in new technology align with creating new efficiencies that allow for higher quality and improved access to healthcare," says Kristen Trice, vice president Diagnostic Outreach, WellStar Health System.  "Managing information securely and efficiently is a critical component of our vision to deliver world-class healthcare.  We believe by consolidating our services, we are creating value for our providers and patients."

"Healthcare systems like WellStar will continually seek to improve care quality and reduce cost and, appropriately, technology investments must be mapped to these important goals," says Frank Pecaitis, senior vice president, North America, Sales and Marketing, Agfa HealthCare. "Our Enterprise Imaging solution is uniquely designed with a broad breadth of functional capabilities to tackle those challenges through an innovative single-platform for 'everything imaging.'  The platform affords fast, efficient capture of images and the rapid exchange of medical information to help clinicians, no matter their specialty or location, to speed the delivery of quality care to their patients."