Agfa HealthCare's DR technologies reduce exam and image processing time and provide the tools to manage radiation dose

Mortsel, Belgium/Greenville, SC - Loma Linda University Medical Center installs 11 DX-D Retrofit DR systems to convert existing CR-based rooms to digital technology and five wireless DX-D 100 mobile DR systems

Agfa HealthCare's Digital Radiography Upgrade Program uses unique cost structure to allow hospitals to upgrade to DR even in the absence of immediate capital

Agfa HealthCare's MUSICA image processing technology is compatible with all DR products and delivers excellent quality images

(AHRA 2014, Booth #501) Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) announced today that the hospital is upgrading to direct radiography (DR) through Agfa HealthCare's Digital Radiography Upgrade Program. The unique cost structure of the Digital Radiography Upgrade Program allows LLUMC to transition its computed radiography (CR) technologies to Agfa HealthCare's market-leading DR technologies thereby increasing exam efficiency and improving the patients' experience.

LLUMC's Digital Radiography Upgrade Program will include the installation of 11 DX-D Retrofit systems to convert existing CR-based radiography rooms to completely digital systems, and five wireless DX-D 100 mobile DR systems.

Unique cost structure made DR upgrade possible

"The benefits of DR technology, including better quality images at low doses and faster X-ray processing, are well known within the radiology department at LLUMC. For us it was not a question of if we wanted to upgrade to DR but instead a question of how we could upgrade and when we would have the financial means to do so," commented R. Todd Thall, System Manager for Diagnostic Radiology, LLUMC. "Agfa HealthCare's Digital Radiography Upgrade Program has made it possible for us to sustain our existing financial model while proactively upgrading to the best technology available for our patients. Our transition to DR is literally paying for itself."

"Patient engagement, comfort, and satisfaction have greatly increased as a result of our upgrade to DR," remarked Aimee Gallegos, RT, Interim Manager Pediatric Radiology, LLUMC. "The radiologist is now able to view the X-ray image seconds after the exposure is made. If any additional images or modifications are needed we are easily able to adjust the patient, eliminating the discomfort and time necessary to take additional X-rays after the originals have been processed and determined to be insufficient. We see better staff efficiency and significant time saving with the new DR products. In addition, the reduction in dose exposure that switching to DR has brought us is a significant benefit to our patients."

Agfa HealthCare's DR technologies are designed to increase efficiency within the radiology department by providing instant image review and eliminating the need for time consuming processing of medical screen film cassettes. X-ray images taken with the newly installed DR systems are immediately available for review and can easily be transferred and stored to the patient's EHR.

LLUMC's upgrade to DR includes several of Agfa HealthCare's industry-leading technologies that deliver ROI benefits either as stand-alone installations or as part of an interconnected system upgrade.

DX-D Retrofit - a cost effective solution for seamlessly migrating CR-based modalities to the benefits of DR. Key to the DX-D Retrofit is its ability to leverage existing equipment to enable a cost and process-efficient transition from image cassettes to digitized X-ray images that can then be shared and accessed within the EHR. This vendor-neutral upgrade solution provides DR workflow and image quality for fraction of the price of a complete system and handles many applications including pediatric for NICUs.

DX-D 100 - wirelessly connects to the hospital information system and contains onboard dose management tools, allowing for instant high-quality image capture at the patient bedside to facilitate improved patient comfort.

In addition, Agfa HealthCare's patented MUSICA image processing software is utilized with the entire DR product line. MUSICA brings multi-scaled image processing to a new level by showing exquisite detail in low noise images that allow customers to capture consistently high-quality images. Furthermore, MUSICA is applied automatically without the need for time-consuming window leveling or re-processing of images.

"Though the benefits of DR are widely known, many hospitals are challenged to find cost effective ways to upgrade their legacy radiation technologies," said Ueli Laupper, DR Business Director, Agfa HealthCare North America. "We developed the unique cost structure of the Digital Radiography Upgrade Program to allow hospitals like Loma Linda University Medical Center to keep up with the evolution of healthcare technology by implementing the most cutting edge DR products without having to use any capital investment, but instead paying for it with the operational cost savings achieved by using cassette-less DR technology. We are very honored to have been selected by Loma Linda and are pleased to be working with them throughout the evolution of their imaging technologies."

For more information on Agfa HealthCare's DR technologies and Digital Radiography Upgrade Program, please visit Agfa HealthCare at AHRA 2014, booth #501 or contact salesinfo@agfa.com. www.agfahealthcare.com

Agfa HealthCare - Loma Linda University medical Center

About Agfa
The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world's leading companies in imaging and information technology. Agfa develops manufactures and markets analogue and digital systems for the printing industry (Agfa Graphics), for the healthcare sector (Agfa HealthCare), and for specific industrial applications (Agfa Materials). Agfa is headquartered in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is present in 40 countries and has agents in another 100 countries around the globe. The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 2,865 million euro in 2013.

About Agfa HealthCare
Agfa HealthCare, a member of the Agfa-Gevaert Group, is a leading global provider of diagnostic imaging and healthcare IT solutions. The company has nearly a century of healthcare experience and has been a pioneer on the healthcare IT market since the early 1990's. Today Agfa HealthCare designs, develops and delivers state-of-the-art systems for capturing, managing and processing diagnostic images and clinical/administrative information for hospitals and healthcare facilities, as well as contrast media solutions to enable effective medical imaging results. The company has sales offices and agents in over 100 markets worldwide. Sales for Agfa HealthCare in 2013 were 1,160 million euro. For more information on Agfa HealthCare, please visit www.agfahealthcare.com

For more information on Agfa HealthCare, please visit www.agfa.com/healthcare