Largest Integrated Health Care System in IL Provides Interoperable Cardiology Image Exchange Across 3,200 Bed Network

CHICAGO, May 15, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Merge Healthcare Incorporated (Nasdaq:MRGE), a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, today announced that Advocate Health Care, one of the nation’s top 10 health care systems,* will implement Merge’s complete cardiology solution suite to capture, manage and display cardiac images, and hemodynamics and ECG data across its enterprise of more than 250 care sites, including 10 acute-care hospitals and two integrated children’s hospitals.

“Advocate is an example for others to follow as they’ve set in place a strategy that promotes the sharing of images and information across their enterprise,” said Jeff Surges, CEO, Merge Healthcare. “They are taking the critically important step of providing physicians with access to images and information regardless of their location. With this type of ‘anywhere, any time’ access to images and information, they’re delivering on a plan that will help improve the healthcare experience for patients and physicians.”

“There are a number of reasons Advocate partnered with Merge Healthcare,” said Dr. Lee Sacks, Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, Advocate Health Care. “We valued their approach because it is a true partnership. That’s something we believe is key to long-term success. Second, their solutions are highly-respected by users. For example, Merge Hemo is ranked #1 by KLAS (an organization that measures customers’ product perceptions). Earning a designation like that says a lot about their commitment to excellence.”

“As a cardiologist, I need to have immediate access to a patient’s complete cardiology record to ensure I make the most informed medical decisions,” said Dr. Vincent Bufalino, Advocate Health Care. “With Merge’s solutions, I can see cardiology images wherever I am – whether I’m at the hospital, in my office, or even at a remote location. Having this type of access is immensely beneficial.”

Advocate selected the full suite of Merge Cardiology Solutions for its ability to help improve workflow and enhance patient care. With Merge Cardio, patient information is integrated from different sources into a centralized web-based system. As a result, cardiologists can quickly access their patient’s complete cardiology file from a single point (including the EMR), generate a report, and distribute it in a single session—even if they are at a remote location.

With the simplified reporting tools inherent to Merge Cardio, physicians can now get information and reports faster, and in a more consistent manner. And with its integration with the industry’s top EMRs, that information can be accessed timely and securely regardless of location.

The Merge Cardiology suite includes Merge Cardio™, an enterprise-level image and information system; Merge Hemo™, a catheterization laboratory knowledge tool for data collection, analysis and reporting (ranked #1 by KLAS); iConnect® Access, a zero-download DICOM image and XDS viewer; and iConnect® Share, an Internet-based gateway for image sharing.

*Based on clinical performance by Thomson Reuters

About Merge Healthcare

Merge Healthcare is a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions. Merge solutions facilitate the sharing of images to create a more effective and efficient electronic healthcare experience for patients and physicians. Merge provides enterprise imaging solutions for radiology, cardiology, orthopaedics and eye care; electronic health record and practice management solutions for image-intensive specialties; a suite of products for clinical trials; software for financial and pre-surgical management; applications that fuel the largest modality vendors in the world, and a network of patient-centric, wellness stations. Merge’s products have been used by healthcare providers, vendors and researchers worldwide to improve patient care for more than 20 years.

The Merge Healthcare logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=10757

About Advocate Health Care

Advocate Health Care, one of the nation’s top health systems, based on clinical performance, is the largest health system in Illinois and one of the largest health care providers in the Midwest. Advocate operates more than 250 sites of care, including 10 acute care hospitals, two integrated children’s hospitals, five Level I trauma centers, two Level II trauma centers, one of the area’s largest home health care companies and one of the region’s largest medical groups. Advocate Health Care trains more primary care physicians and residents at its three major teaching hospitals than any other health system in the state.

Twelve Radiology and Orthopaedic Practices, Representing Almost 200 Physicians, Select Merge to Achieve Meaningful Use

CHICAGO, May 14, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Merge Healthcare Inc. (Nasdaq:MRGE), a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, announced the addition of twelve practices to its growing list of clients who have selected its complete and fully-certified EHR solution to achieve Meaningful Use (MU). More than 89 clients, representing more than 850 physicians, now utilize Merge MU solutions.

“Meaningful Use is the basis for health information exchange in the U.S. and will become the core workflow for physicians,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. ”With the recently proposed Stage 2 requirements that focus heavily on the viewing of diagnostic images, it’s clear that specialties like radiology and orthopaedics are very much so included in Meaningful Use. Now is the time for specialty physicians to adopt a Meaningful Use strategy so they can qualify for Stage 1 funding, while preparing for Stage 2.”

“While there are financial reasons to focus on Meaningful Use, the driver for us is that it is going to build a foundation upon which we can provide even better care to our patients,” said Ellis Keitt, Administrator, Radiology Associates, LLP. ”With Merge RIS™, we are going to be able to collect and share valuable information, automatically trend clinical data and report on MU measures.”

Merge RIS v7.0 provides a radiology-specific EHR with complete certification that enables radiologists to capture and report on the metrics required to demonstrate Meaningful Use of electronic health records, without disrupting their traditional workflow. With Merge RIS v7.0, radiologists can qualify to receive up to $44,000 in stimulus incentives, per eligible provider, and more importantly, avoid future penalties that will come from not meeting Meaningful Use.

Merge RIS v7.0 functionality includes ePrescribing, enhanced reporting that enables physicians to automatically trend clinical data and report on Meaningful Use measures, new clinical decision support, the clinical exchange of health information through industry standard formats, and a patient portal that empowers patients to access their records at their convenience. This new functionality was built natively within the intuitive, web-based Merge RIS so that any radiology practice can achieve Meaningful Use attestation in a manner that works for their specialty.

“With Merge OrthoEMR™ we can meet Meaningful Use criteria and earn stimulus incentives,” said Vickie Shuler, Clinic Administrator, Western Carolina Orthopaedic Specialists. “Using Merge OrthoEMR also means we’ll avoid financial penalties that are coming to those not using MU-certified solutions. The most important aspect of Merge OrthoEMR for us is that it will help us provide better care, streamline our workflow and improve operational efficiencies.”

Merge OrthoEMR has received complete EHR Ambulatory certification and provides orthopaedic physicians the tools needed to achieve Meaningful Use and qualify for incentive funds. By providing instant access to images at all locations, Merge’s OrthoEMR eliminates the need for transporting images, improves workflow and speeds patient care.

In addition to Merge OrthoEMR, Merge provides an integrated suite of products developed for the specific needs of the orthopaedic practice, from patient information to image management including digital templating. Developed by orthopaedic specialists, our systems and tools mirror charting and patient care today, increasing the long-term adoptability and satisfaction of users. Plus, with imaging and data sharing they promote interoperability, without forcing conformance to non-specialty hospital-based solutions.

About Merge Healthcare

Merge Healthcare is a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions. Merge solutions facilitate the sharing of images to create a more effective and efficient electronic healthcare experience for patients and physicians. Merge provides enterprise imaging solutions for radiology, cardiology, orthopaedics and eye care; electronic health record and practice management solutions for image-intensive specialties; a suite of products for clinical trials; software for financial and pre-surgical management; applications that fuel the largest modality vendors in the world, and a network of patient-centric, wellness stations. Merge’s products have been used by healthcare providers, vendors and researchers worldwide to improve patient care for more than 20 years. For more information, visit www.merge.com.

Utilizes iConnect(R) Solution to Expand Archive Capacity; Ensure Full Business Continuity

CHICAGO, May 9, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Merge Healthcare Incorporated (Nasdaq:MRGE), a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, today announced that Lutheran HealthCare, Brooklyn’s premier health care network, has selected its iConnect® portfolio to create an enterprise-wide imaging platform across its hospital system.

“In the U.S. alone, more than 480 million radiology exams are performed a year,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. “Hand-in-hand with this is an increase in the cost of image storage and maintenance. These factors, as well as the need to expand archive capacity have led many organizations to adopt a long-term enterprise-wide imaging strategy.”

In the next few years, most networks that conduct more than 150,000 imaging studies annually will deploy enterprise-wide VNAs, and the number of organizations with this volume of studies will only increase as industry consolidation continues. The growth of VNA installations is driven by the benefits they deliver, which include improved efficiency through reductions in complexity, improved access to images through better data sharing and interoperability, support for Meaningful Use and accountable care strategies and streamlined costs.

“Our goal was to expand our archive capacity, and by doing so we were able to build a fully redundant infrastructure that insulates us from upgrade downtime,” said Steve Art, CIO, Lutheran HealthCare.

Merge’s iConnect suite is the industry’s only comprehensive solution for collecting, archiving, viewing, sharing and exchanging any type of image, anywhere, any time. It includes iConnect Access*, a zero-download DICOM image and XDS server; iConnect Share, an Internet-based gateway for image sharing between enterprises; and iConnect VNA, a vendor neutral archive to create an enterprise imaging strategy. It works with existing applications, leveraging widely-used web and healthcare technology standards, to provide a vendor neutral interoperable environment.

The addition of the Merge iConnect suite will complement the existing portfolio at Lutheran HealthCare which includes Merge PACS, a real-time picture archiving communication system that provides storage and access to images from any enterprise web-based location.

*iConnect Access is not FDA-cleared for diagnostic use on mobile devices.

About Merge Healthcare

Merge Healthcare is a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, with a client base consisting of more than 1,500 hospitals and 6,000 clinics across the country. Merge solutions facilitate the sharing of images to create a more effective and efficient electronic healthcare experience for patients and physicians. Merge provides enterprise imaging solutions for radiology, cardiology, orthopaedics and eye care; a suite of products for clinical trials; software for financial and pre-surgical management, and applications that fuel the largest modality vendors in the world. Merge’s products have been used by healthcare providers, vendors and researchers worldwide to improve patient care for more than 20 years. Additional information can be found at www.merge.com.

The Merge Healthcare logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=10757

About Lutheran HealthCare

As Brooklyn’s premier health care network, Lutheran HealthCare (LHC) is a comprehensive medical and social support system committed to providing services for the whole person — physically, emotionally and spiritually. The LHC system of community health providers includes Lutheran Medical Center, the Lutheran Family Health Centers, Lutheran Augustana Center for Extended Care and Rehabilitation, Community Care Organization, Inc, senior housing programs and more. Learn about LHC and its 129-year-old commitment to serving Brooklyn neighborhoods by visiting www.lutheranhealthcare.org. Click here for nine ways to connect with Lutheran on social media.

Collaboration Advances Orthopedic Visualization with HDVR® Connect

Palo Alto and Torrance, California May 8, 2012 – Fovia Medical, Inc., a world leader in volume rendering technology, and iCRco, a leading provider of innovative digital imaging solutions, today announced a groundbreaking collaboration to deliver High Definition Volume Rendering® to the orthopedic market.

iCRco develops and delivers comprehensive digital x-ray products, including an integrated suite of hardware, PACS and imaging software solutions for the medical, dental, chiropractic, veterinary and non-destructive testing markets.  The combination of Fovia’s imaging capabilities and iCRco’s orthopedic expertise gives physicians and radiologists an unprecedented ability to view and manipulate data “on-the-fly,” making lengthy pre- and post-processing steps, such as time-consuming surface rendering import and export, obsolete.

Fovia’s CPU-based thin client-server technology provides advanced visualization to OEMs through its customizable SDK integration solution.  Through its server-based architecture, HDVR® Connect provides high performance 3D locally or via web-based solutions, offering immediate access to imaging during critical stages of care.  HDVR Connect’s flexibility extends to its platform accessibility – operating in various combinations of Windows, Mac, Linux, and iOS client-server configurations.

“With the precision of Fovia’s HDVR Connect software, we are able to dramatically improve imaging studies for hip and knee replacement surgical planning, spinal cord trauma diagnostics, and other orthopedic surgical and clinical applications.  The list continues to grow as we investigate the advantages of Fovia’s scalable and flexible platform,” said Stephen Neushul, Chief Executive Officer of iCRco.  “Leveraging HDVR® in our products will provide us with the tools our orthopedic clients need to deliver the best quality care and the high rate of successful surgical outcomes expected by today’s health care consumers.”

Ken Fineman, Chief Executive Officer of Fovia, stated, “We are thrilled to have such a visionary partner with which to expand into the orthopedic market.  iCRco is keenly adept at recognizing the needs of a particular medical sector and being at the forefront of delivering revolutionary and adaptive innovations in imaging technology, while continuing to remain cost-effective.”

About Fovia, Inc.

Fovia has developed High Definition Volume Rendering®, a CPU-based, advanced visualization technology platform that delivers unparalleled quality, performance, scalability and flexibility. Fovia’s innovative HDVR® solution successfully overcomes the inherent limitations of other currently available imaging technologies, thereby enabling local, enterprise-wide and web-based volumetric rendering with affordable, off-the-shelf computers.

Fovia’s flagship product, HDVR® Connect, is a software-only, advanced visualization solution that includes all of the key attributes required by today’s vendors and their customers: performance, quality, scalability, anytime/anywhere image access, cost-effectiveness and flexibility.  With HDVR Connect, OEM vendors can deliver unrivaled image quality and uncompromised performance, both locally and remotely, in 2D, 3D and 4D advanced volume visualization applications.

For additional information and to learn more about commercial, academic or research licensing, visit www.fovia.com.

About iCRco

Founded in 1990 by Stephen Neushul, iCRco has introduced several innovative technologies with its direct digital radiography, computed radiography, film digitizer and PACS product lines. In 2002, iCRco introduced the first computed radiography machine to have True Flat Scan Path™ technology. Today, iCRco continues to lead its medical imaging categories through the development of innovative digital x-ray imaging solutions, including a complete suite of x-ray imaging hardware, PACS, imaging software and integrated solutions for the medical, orthopedic, women’s health, chiropractic, veterinary and non-destructive testing markets.

Regional Medical Imaging Receives Significant Stimulus Incentive; One of the First Radiology Practices in the Country to Achieve MU

CHICAGO, March 26, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Merge Healthcare (Nasdaq:MRGE), a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, announced today that Regional Medical Imaging (RMI), based in Flint, MI, became its first radiology client to successfully comply with CMS’ federal ambulatory Meaningful Use regulations and receive stimulus incentives totaling $216,000, representing approximately one-third of the total incentives they expect to receive under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“For RMI, there is a strong business case for Meaningful Use, but what’s more important is that this is going to help us become better physicians so that our patients get better care,” said Randy Hicks, MD, MBA, CEO of RMI. ”With Merge RIS™ we’ll witness better and more prompt access to medical records, less redundant testing and ultimately fewer medical errors across our five locations in Michigan.”

“And while we were early adopters of MU, we knew it was about more than just collecting and reporting on data,” continued Hicks. “It’s about building an infrastructure that will enable continuity of care and a seamless transfer of patient information.”

“Regional Medical Imaging is an organization that is doing what it takes to move healthcare forward,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. ”They are pioneers who very early on realized Meaningful Use does apply to radiology and that there is inherent value that comes from adopting a Meaningful Use strategy. More importantly, RMI took the necessary steps to achieve it. We congratulate RMI and look forward to continuing our partnership with them as they provide state-of-the-art imaging to doctors and patients across Michigan.”

Merge RIS v7.0 provides a radiology-specific EHR with complete MU certification. It enables radiologists to capture and report on the metrics required to demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health records without disrupting their traditional workflow. With Merge RIS v7.0, radiologists can qualify to receive up to $44,000 in stimulus incentives, per eligible provider, as well as avoid future penalties that will come from not meeting Meaningful Use.

Merge RIS v7.0 functionality includes enhanced data security, expanded reporting that enables physicians to automatically trend clinical data and report on Meaningful Use measures, new clinical decision support, the clinical exchange of health information through industry standard formats, ePrescribing, and a patient portal that empowers patients to access their records at their convenience. This new functionality was built natively within the intuitive, web-based Merge RIS so that any radiology practice can achieve Meaningful Use attestation in a manner that works for their specialty. Merge RIS is a key element of an overall suite of integrated solutions built specifically for imaging providers.

About Merge Healthcare

Merge Healthcare is a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions. Merge solutions facilitate the sharing of images to create a more effective and efficient electronic healthcare experience for patients and physicians. Merge provides enterprise imaging solutions for radiology, cardiology, orthopaedics and eye care; electronic health record and practice management solutions for image-intensive specialties; a suite of products for clinical trials; software for financial and pre-surgical management; applications that fuel the largest modality vendors in the world, and a network of patient-centric, wellness stations. Merge’s products have been used by healthcare providers, vendors and researchers worldwide to improve patient care for more than 20 years. For more information, visit www.merge.com.

About RMI

RMI began in 1985 as a private, outpatient-based imaging facility with a goal of offering patients an alternative to hospitals for radiology services. Today, RMI continues its commitment of providing state-of-the-art equipment in a patient-friendly atmosphere at its offices in Flint, Fenton, Grand Blanc and Davison. For more information, visit www.rmipc.net.

As HIMSS rounds out the week in Las Vegas, a quick riddle: What happens when some of the most recognizable brand names in college football join forces with two of the world’s leading industries to develop a breakthrough medical imaging technology? The answer: Veo.

Veo is GE’s new CT image reconstruction technology that provides high quality diagnostic images at unheard of low dose levels. Developed in partnership with researchers from Notre Dame, Purdue and the University of Michigan, as well as experts from Intel and GE Healthcare, Veo is changing the CT game globally by helping physicians get closer to GE’s goal of routine CT imaging at under 1 millisievert (mSv) per exam with profound image clarity. Patient safety matters – and so does having the best research and development teams on the field.

Patented Platform Provides Security, Scalability and Flexibility in the Cloud

(MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – February 20th, 2012)

About Logicalis

Logicalis is an international provider of integrated information and communications technology (ICT) solutions and services founded on a superior breadth of knowledge and expertise in communications & collaboration, data center, and cloud computing and managed services. Logicalis Group employs nearly 2,500 people worldwide, including highly trained service specialists who design, specify, deploy and manage complex ICT infrastructures to meet the needs of over 6,000 corporate and public sector customers.  To achieve this, Logicalis maintains strong partnerships with technology leaders such as Cisco, HP, IBM and Microsoft.

The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues of over $1 billion, from operations in the UK, US, Germany, South America and Asia Pacific, and is fast establishing itself as one of the leading IT and Communications solution integrators, specializing in the areas of advanced technologies and services. The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec Limited, listed on the Johannesburg and London AIM Stock Exchanges, with revenues of approximately $5 billion.

For more information, visit http://www.us.logicalis.com/

About TeraMedica® Inc.

TeraMedica is a healthcare informatics company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. TeraMedica’s software manages the storage and distribution of digital medical images as well as other clinical content across healthcare and hospital systems, gathering images from imaging devices or PACS, storing them, and distributing them to the point of patient care. TeraMedica’s technology gives physicians virtual access to image data. TeraMedica software uses an advanced enterprise-scale database and “intelligent”, or rules-based, business logic to deliver fast, efficient image management. For more information visit: www.teramedica.com.

At HIMSS today Iron Mountain announced that Texas Regional Medical Center has chosen the Company’s vendor neutral archive solution to manage its archive of CT scans, MRIs, X-rays and other diagnostic images. The Company also announced the addition of new retention management functionality to its VNA to help hospitals identify and properly archive or destroy obsolete medical data.

New retention management capability for vendor neutral archive and cloud-based storage relieves pressures of shrinking storage capacity and regulatory compliance

HIMSS12

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM), the information management company, today announced that the Texas Regional Medical Center (TRMC) has chosen Iron Mountain’s vendor neutral archive (VNA) and cloud storage solution to manage its CT scans, MRIs, X-rays and other diagnostic image volume. The Dallas-based for-profit hospital will implement Iron Mountain’s VNA to lower overall medical data storage costs, provide caregivers better access to images, and improve disaster recovery by moving data securely offsite. Iron Mountain also announced the addition of new retention management functionality to its VNA to help hospitals identify and properly archive or destroy obsolete medical data.

Texas Regional Medical Center: Lowering storage costs, focusing on patient care
Like other hospitals, the Texas Regional Medical Center views and stores medical images through Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS). These systems generate massive amounts of data, driven by higher-resolution images and the popularity of imaging as a diagnostic tool. Often, the data is stored across multiple departments, each with its own PACS for storing a specific type of image. This network of PACS creates silos that trap information and inhibit physicians from viewing a patient’s full medical history, forcing hospital technology leaders to manage expensive and complex processes for storing and sharing medical image data. And, because hospitals update or replace their PACS every few years, they are forced to migrate images from one PACS to the next.

The Texas Regional Medical Center implemented Iron Mountain’s VNA and cloud-based archiving solution to help them address their medical imaging data growth, while also helping them better protect their data in the event of disaster by moving the information offsite. This will enable TRMC to reduce the cost and complexity of managing that data while meeting HIPAA compliance requirements for disaster recovery and business continuity. Additionally, they plan to use the VNA to help them prepare for the eventual challenges of system interoperability and data retention, both of which will become more acute challenges as TRMC grows and expands its footprint of clinical operations.

“As a for-profit hospital, our technology investments must provide efficiency and cost-savings, solving our current and future needs while also helping to ensure a higher quality of patient care,” said Rob McDonald, CIO of Texas Regional Medical Center. “When we started looking for a technology solution for our medical imaging data, we had a specific agenda: Choose a partner capable of growing with us and handling our storage, access, compliance and data retention needs. Iron Mountain fits perfectly as a partner with the capability and expertise to help us bridge the gap between now and the future. Their solution solves our storage and compliance needs, while ensuring we have the most cost-effective and efficient solution that frees up our staff to focus on patient care.”

New retention and lifecycle management functionality: Relieve the pressures of storage & compliance
The massive growth of medical data brings the additional challenge of straining storage and management capacity, complicated by regulatory requirements for archiving and protecting this data, also known as information lifecycle management. The solution is to archive or delete obsolete information – data that exceeded its “retention period” and no longer needed to satisfy regulatory (e.g. HIPAA) or clinical care requirements. To address retention and lifecycle management, hospitals must have an understanding of their legal and clinical requirements as well as the capability to manage the retention and destruction of date based on retention policies. Iron Mountain’s VNA manages the archiving process and data is tiered so that inactive data is stored using more economical storage systems over time; destruction is managed based on policies created within the VNA to destroy data that has exceeded the required retention period. And, in addition to encouraging customers to use these retention capabilities in the VNA, Iron Mountain also provides consulting services to help healthcare organizations develop the policies needed to effectively utilize these capabilities.

Iron Mountain’s vendor neutral archive provides healthcare organizations with an enterprise-wide repository for storing, accessing and managing medical images and other patient data. Customers like TRMC use it to consolidate medical imaging studies and patient data – traditionally stored in departmental-level archives found in radiology, cardiology and other areas of the hospital – into a single archive. Additionally, they can leverage the solution’s data retention management capabilities to delete inactive data when no longer required for clinical or compliance reasons. The net impact is lower costs, enhanced image sharing ability, better reliability and security, and ultimately improved patient care.

“The typical hospital system’s archive data grows at a rate of more than 40 percent year-over-year, straining storage and management resources,” said Ken Rubin, senior vice president and general manager, healthcare services for Iron Mountain. “Providers are looking for more control over their information while also looking to reduce the cost and complexity of managing this data. Our VNA allows them to liberate their data from their PACS to solve data sharing and access issues, removing the burden of managing their archiving and disaster recovery functions to focus on delivering a higher quality of patient care. The new retention management capability enables hospitals to substantially reduce their data storage costs even further. Providers like TRMC recognize that our single solution can solve these complex challenges, which is the reason why our VNA and cloud services have grown over 100 percent for each of the past three years.”

For more information on the Iron Mountain vendor neutral archive and Iron Mountain Healthcare Services, visit Iron Mountain at the 2012 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition in booth 2558 or click here.

About Iron Mountain

Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) provides information management services that help organizations lower the costs, risks and inefficiencies of managing their physical and digital data. The Company’s solutions enable customers to protect and better use their information—regardless of its format, location or lifecycle stage—so they can optimize their business and ensure proper recovery, compliance and discovery. Founded in 1951, Iron Mountain manages billions of information assets, including business records, electronic files, medical data, emails and more for organizations around the world. Visit www.ironmountain.com or follow the company on Twitter @IronMountain for more information.

The Merge radiology suite includes Merge RIS, a web-based radiology information system that streamlines workflow and enables providers to meet Meaningful Use criteria; Merge PACS, a real-time picture archiving communication system that provides storage and access to images from any enterprise web-based location; Merge Financials, a web-based billing system that improves revenue cycle management; Merge Documents, a paperless office solution to store and manage documents electronically; and Merge CADstream, a MRI-CAD for breast, liver and prostate analysis and reporting.

Integrated Solution Enables Physicians to Achieve Meaningful Use; Improves Patient Experience

CHICAGO, Feb. 7, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Merge Healthcare (Nasdaq:MRGE), a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, today announced Radiology Ltd. will implement its full, end-to-end suite of radiology solutions at its nine imaging centers across southern Arizona.

“Radiology Ltd. is a leader in medical imaging,” said Jeff Surges, CEO, Merge Healthcare. “They know that while Meaningful Use has been a moving target in the past, there are no signs it will be slowing down in 2012. They turned to Merge because we were able to provide a complete set of solutions that will enable them to deliver on their strategic goals including improving care and service, as well as achieving Meaningful Use.”

“With over 40 radiologists, our practice has diverse needs,” said Dr. Dan Stricof, CEO, Radiology Ltd. “Because all of Merge’s products are integrated, we will have a single, seamless solution that will enable us to deliver higher quality, cost-effective medical imaging. Plus, it will assist us in meeting Meaningful Use, which for our practice alone represents a potential incentive opportunity of almost 2 million dollars.”

“Service is very important to us,” continued Stricof. “Because of the automation inherent in the Merge radiology suite, we will be able to manage our business better and improve the experience for both patients and referring physicians. Already, we’ve seen reduced wait times for patients and in the amount of time it takes to share results back with referring physicians.”

The Merge radiology suite includes Merge RIS, a web-based radiology information system that streamlines workflow and enables providers to meet Meaningful Use criteria; Merge PACS, a real-time picture archiving communication system that provides storage and access to images from any enterprise web-based location; Merge Financials, a web-based billing system that improves revenue cycle management; Merge Documents, a paperless office solution to store and manage documents electronically; and Merge CADstream, a MRI-CAD for breast, liver and prostate analysis and reporting.

Radiology Ltd. also utilizes Merge iConnect Access*, a zero-download DICOM image and XDS viewer that provides image review for referring physicians from any browser-based device anywhere, any time.

*Merge iConnect Access is not FDA-cleared for diagnostic use on mobile devices.

About Merge Healthcare

Merge Healthcare is a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, with a client base consisting of more than 1,500 hospitals and 6,000 clinics across the country. Merge solutions facilitate the sharing of images to create a more effective and efficient electronic healthcare experience for patients and physicians. Merge provides enterprise imaging solutions for radiology, cardiology, orthopaedics and eye care; a suite of products for clinical trials; software for financial and pre-surgical management, and applications that fuel the largest modality vendors in the world. Merge’s products have been used by healthcare providers, vendors and researchers worldwide to improve patient care for more than 20 years. Additional information can be found at www.merge.com.

Ten Additional Practices Select Merge RIS to Achieve Meaningful Use

CHICAGO, Feb. 1, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Merge Healthcare (Nasdaq:MRGE), a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, today announced the addition of ten radiology practices that have selected Merge RIS to achieve Meaningful Use (MU). Almost 30 radiology practices now utilize Merge RIS as their complete and fully-certified EHR.

“Meaningful Use had a major impact on the radiology industry,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. ”In just one short year, we’ve witnessed a widespread acceptance of Meaningful Use and its ability to help radiologists achieve health and efficiency goals. With almost 28,000 radiologists, the MU incentive opportunity represents more than 1 billion dollars in incentive payments. We’re proud to have led the charge by delivering one of the industry’s only radiology-specific solutions with complete ambulatory certification, and for helping our clients build a foundation for growth and improved patient care.”

Merge RIS v7.0 provides a radiology-specific EHR with complete certification that enables radiologists to capture and report on the metrics required to demonstrate Meaningful Use of electronic health records, without disrupting their traditional workflow. With Merge RIS v7.0, radiologists can qualify to receive up to $44,000 in stimulus incentives, per eligible provider, and more importantly, avoid future penalties that will come from not meeting Meaningful Use.

“As radiologists face mounting regulation and restrictions in terms of what will and won’t be reimbursed, it was quite apparent that our community needed a radiology-specific solution tool that would help us meet these challenges in a cost-effective manner,” said Dr. Mark Stein, West Coast Radiology. ”With Merge RIS, we can now address these challenges head on. And not only will Merge RIS enable us to meet Meaningful Use criteria and avoid future penalties, but it will also streamline our workflow, which in turn will help us provide better patient care.”

“In addition to improving workflow and meeting MU criteria, we see Merge RIS as a tool that will help increase our marketability,” said Alicia Vasquez, President, Arcadia Radiology Medical Group and Immediate Past-President of the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA). ”Because we’ve invested in Merge RIS, we are able to use it as a recruitment vehicle and say to radiologists that we can help you get your MU dollars.”

Merge RIS v7.0 functionality includes ePrescribing, enhanced reporting that enables physicians to automatically trend clinical data and report on Meaningful Use measures, new clinical decision support, the clinical exchange of health information through industry standard formats, and a patient portal that empowers patients to access their records at their convenience. This new functionality was built natively within the intuitive, web-based Merge RIS so that any radiology practice can achieve Meaningful Use attestation in a manner that works for their specialty.

About Merge Healthcare

Merge Healthcare is a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, with a client base consisting of more than 1,500 hospitals and 6,000 clinics across the country. Merge solutions facilitate the sharing of images to create a more effective and efficient electronic healthcare experience for patients and physicians. Merge provides enterprise imaging solutions for radiology, cardiology, orthopaedics and eye care; a suite of products for clinical trials; software for financial and pre-surgical management, and applications that fuel the largest modality vendors in the world. Merge’s products have been used by healthcare providers, vendors and researchers worldwide to improve patient care for more than 20 years. Additional information can be found at www.merge.com.