News release

Imaging Archive International and Compaq Bring Top Medical Expertise Virtually Anywhere

MCV Hospitals Shows Benefit of Industry-Standard Technologies to Healthcare Providers and Patients in Outlying Communities

A Picture Archiving and Communications System currently in use by Virginia Commonwealth University's MCV Hospitals may be a diagnostic superhighway for medical professionals who practice in rural areas, who staff medical centers in more than one community or who need that often-sought second opinion about a patient's condition. For patients, it will mean fewer headaches from traveling between consulting physicians carrying medical records and images.

The IA2000 imaging storage and distribution system offered by Norcross, Georgia-based Imaging Archive International, LLC (IAI), operates on any of the industry-standard ProLiant servers from Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ).

Using IA2000, physicians and radiologists in different locations can simultaneously view digital images of a patient and consult on the patient's condition and treatment within seconds of completing a radiological scan. This is accomplished without the risk of losing original images while being shipped or stored. Using readily available, off-the-shelf components means lower initial costs, more affordable system maintenance and uncompromising stability and performance.

"Using IA2000, specialized medical expertise is both available and affordable for small medical centers and rural hospitals," said Paul Sumner, CEO of IAI. "Scalable, open systems like Compaq ProLiant servers and StorageWorks allow doctors to do in seconds what used to take hours or days. The savings in both time and money is dramatic."

MCVH put the IA2000 digital imaging system to work between its central hub in downtown Richmond, the only Level I Trauma Center in Central Virginia, and an MCVH outpatient facility about 11 miles away. The IA2000 system was installed to improve operational efficiencies at the two facilities, while at the same time enhancing patient care.

The system is scalable to meet the needs of virtually any size medical center. MCVH officials say IA2000 has tremendous potential for leveraging medical expertise, which is sometimes scarce in rural areas.

"We think the medical imaging community—rural and urban alike—will welcome this technology eagerly," said Ronald Miller, director of radiology at MCVH. "The reliability of the IA2000 system has been exceptional. It simply hasn't gone down since it entered service, and that's even more important to us than its reasonable cost. This capability in our clinics means greater convenience for our patients and increased efficiency for our physicians and radiologists."

At MCVH, the IA2000 system manages some 250,000 patient imaging studies performed annually. The system deployed at MCVH operates using Compaq ProLiant servers, more than 60 Compaq workstations, and Compaq StorageWorks hardware RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) enclosures.

The IA2000 system stores and transmits images while meeting the medical information security standards mandated by Congress in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

"Compaq has led the drive for more innovative uses of open, industry-standard technologies," said Tom Baber, vice president, Southeast Region for Compaq. "This effort at the VCU's Medical College of Virginia Hospitals illustrates the value of integrating Compaq equipment with digital imaging solutions. When a sophisticated application like IA2000 can be delivered on off-the-shelf Compaq ProLiant servers and our StorageWorks products, we know we're fulfilling our mission in healthcare IT."

IA2000 allows physicians to view diagnostic images from any DICOM III-conforming equipment. DICOM III is the current technical standard for communication between digital medical imaging devices.

About Imaging Archive International

Imaging Archive International, LLC, a leading, innovative company provides advanced cost-effective, scalable and secure solutions for patient imaging-study management, storage and retrieval. The IA2000 meets the demands for lowering healthcare provider costs while maximizing reliability, stability, flexibility and conformance to well-accepted standards. The company can be reached at (770) 448-7529 or sales@imaging-archive.com for additional company and product information.

About VCU

Virginia Commonwealth University is ranked by the Carnegie Foundation one of the nation's top research universities. Located on two campuses in Richmond, Va., VCU enrolls about 25,000 students in more than 150 undergraduate, graduate, professional, doctoral and post-graduate certificate degree programs at 10 schools and one college. Sixteen graduate and professional programs have been ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the best in the nation. The VCU Health System is one of the leading academic medical centers in the country. VCU recently launched VCU Life Sciences, a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate program involving academic and medical faculty. In addition, the university is developing the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park in collaboration with business, civic and government leaders. For more, see www.vcu.edu.

About Compaq

Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation is a leading global provider of information technology products, services and solutions for enterprise customers. Compaq designs, develops, manufactures and markets information technology equipment, software, services and solutions, including industry-leading enterprise storage and computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, communication products, personal desktop and notebook computers, and personal entertainment and Internet access devices that are sold in more than 200 countries directly and through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners. Information on Compaq and its products and services is available at http://www.compaq.com.