CHEVY CHASE, Md. and CHICAGO, Sept. 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Merge Healthcare (NASDAQ:MRGE) today announced a new global collaboration with the nonprofit organization, RAD-AID International, (US Registered 501c3) to bring vital radiology and health information technologies to medically underserved and poor regions of the world. The collaboration—RAD-AID Merge International Imaging Informatics Initiative (RMI4)—leverages Merge's leadership in radiology information technologies with RAD-AID's global health outreach network, including 3,500 volunteers, 14 country-outreach programs, 33 university-based chapters and affiliation with the United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO reports that nearly half the world has little or no radiology services. Moreover, most of these low and middle-income countries have no access to health information technologies, such as Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS), Electronic Health Records (EHR), Radiology Information Systems (RIS), Hospital Information Systems and other life-saving health informatics platforms for storing, retrieving and interpreting patient data. In collaboration with Merge's charitable contributions of software, technical resources and expertise in radiology image-management, RAD-AID will implement these health information technologies at the nonprofit's partnered international sites along with RAD-AID's ongoing delivery of clinical education, on-site training and radiology assistance to comprehensively support poor and resource-limited countries.
"This collaboration between RAD-AID and Merge represents a major step forward in bridging charitable outreach and health technologies for the mission of improving global health," said Dan Mollura, chief executive officer, RAD-AID International.
Serving as an important foundation for this collaboration, RAD-AID has designed and deployed its Radiology-Readiness AssessmentTM tool since 2008, to assess, plan and deliver radiology in poor and medically underserved regions. Over the last seven years, these RAD-AID Radiology-Readiness Assessments confirmed the near-complete absence of health information technology in low- and middle-income countries. To begin addressing this significant health care disparity, RAD-AID and Merge developed RMI4. As a resource for carrying out this initiative, RAD-AID recently enhanced the Radiology-Readiness tool to include PACS-Readiness, a data analytics tool for specifically planning international deployment of PACS in facilities having little or no prior experience with imaging platforms.
"Merge takes corporate social responsibility very seriously and is excited to partner with RAD-AID to bring radiology and health information technologies to medically underserved and resource-limited countries across the globe," said Justin Dearborn, chief executive officer, Merge Healthcare.
The collaboration envisions the creation of a constructive, educational and supportive roadmap for medical imaging facilities and health institutions in underserved regions of the world to adopt radiology imaging informatics systems.
More information on RMI4 will be presented at the annual RAD-AID Conference in Washington DC on Saturday, November 7. More information is available at http://www.rad-aid.org/programs/rad-aid-conference/2015-rad-aid-conference/ and updates on RMI4 are at http://www.rad-aid.org/programs/informatics/.
About Merge
Merge is a leading provider of innovative enterprise imaging, interoperability and clinical systems that seek to advance healthcare. Merge's enterprise and cloud-based technologies for image intensive specialties provide access to any image, anywhere, any time. Merge also provides clinical trials software with end-to-end study support in a single platform and other intelligent health data and analytics solutions. With solutions that have been used by providers for more than 25 years, Merge is helping to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and enhance the quality of healthcare worldwide. For more information, visit merge.com and follow us on Twitter @MergeHealthcare.
About RAD-AID
RAD-AID International is a nonprofit (501c3) organization with the mission of improving and increasing radiology and medical imaging health services for poor and medically underserved regions of the world, by implementing technologies and training health workers. The organization consists of about 3500 volunteers and 33 university-based medical center chapters. It operates programs in fourteen countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. RAD-AID has received awards from the American College of Radiology (2015), American Medical Association (2013), and the Clinton Global Initiative (2012) for innovative health solutions for indigent populations worldwide. In 2015, RAD-AID became recognized as a nonprofit nongovernmental organization in official relations with the United Nations and World Health Organization, as an established affiliate for addressing global health care disparities and improving international health outcomes. As radiology is vital to most health services, such as cancer treatment, maternal-fetal monitoring, heart disease care, and trauma response, RAD-AID improves the accessibility, safety, and quality of radiology worldwide as an anchor for improving global health. More information is available at http://www.rad-aid.org, or follow RAD-AID on Twitter (@RADAIDIntl) and https://www.facebook.com/RADAIDinternational