*\tRound-the-clock access to radiology images and reports. Kodak's solutions will enable Park Ridge to send imaging studies to radiologists and referring physicians over the Internet--anytime, anywhere. "Even if a radiologist or referring physician is at home or is attending a medical conference in another city or country, he or she can have total access to patient images and information," Sproule noted. This capability will further enhance the diagnostic process and enable patient treatment to begin in a timelier manner.
*\tEasier access to prior exams, and fewer lost films. "Today, our medical images are stored in hardcopy files in a remote part of the hospital," Sproule pointed out. "When patients come in for follow up exams, we must retrieve prior images from these files, so comparisons can be made with new images. Doing so takes considerable time, and occasionally the films are incorrectly filed or lost. Moving to Kodak digital solutions will alleviate these problems, since medical images and related information can be stored electronically--in a highly organized fashion--and can be retrieved with the click of a mouse. This capability further reduces patient wait times and gives everyone involved peace of mind." Sproule also pointed out that Park Ridge will gain some operating benefits: The hospital can eliminate rows of file cabinets that currently store hardcopy medical films and can put the space to better use.
*\tAdditional operating efficiencies. With CARESTREAM EIM, Park Ridge will be able to more efficiently manage images and information stored in a variety of IT systems across the hospital--in departments ranging from cardiology and radiology, to admissions, pharmacy and surgery. "EIM will help us reduce expenses by providing intelligent, automated management tools and by equipping us with centralized management of our decentralized storage systems," Park Ridge CIO Glynn pointed out. "More important, perhaps, our different departments will be able to share each others' databases via a couple mouse clicks. Consequently, exchanging patient information, such as exams, prescriptions and billing information, will become easy." Right now, much of this information is shared manually among departments, which consumes time and is labor-intensive.

"We are proud that Park Ridge Hospital chose to do business with Kodak's Health Group," said R.L. (Vern) Davenport, Chief Operations Officer, Healthcare Information Solutions, and Vice President of Kodak's Health Group. "The selection committee's choice of Kodak and our products serves as one of many proof points for the great future we envision for our business."

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