DeJarnette Provides Vendor Neutral Archive Technology for Ontario's GTA West Diagnostic Imaging Repository

    TOWSON, MD, March 21, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- DeJarnette Research Systems, Inc., of Towson, Maryland, a leading provider of medical imaging and informatics interoperability technology, today announced it has a seven-year contract with CGI Group, Inc., to provide Vendor Neutral Archive (VNA) software technology in support of CGI's contract with University Health Network (UHN), representing the GTA West Consortium. This news follows CGI's announcement of this transformational project that will see CGI deploy and manage a shared Diagnostic Imaging repository (DI-r) solution. CGI is the leading health care solution provider in Canada.

The GTA West DI-r solution will provide a secure, shared repository for storage, retrieval and viewing of diagnostic images and reports, such as X-rays and MRIs, and associated documents across multiple health care facilities in greater Toronto and central Ontario (GTA West). UHN represents a consortium of five Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) and 20 health care facilities, representing approximately 39 sites in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and central Ontario. Diagnostic imaging exam volumes are expected to exceed an annual volume of three million exams. The initiative is co-funded by eHealth Ontario and Canada Health Infoway.

DeJarnette's xDL (Cross-Enterprise Document Librarian) and Intelligent Router technologies provide the functionality for sharing data (images and diagnostic reports) between disparate Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) across the five LHINs and 39 sites covered by the project. DeJarnette's software technology provides the standards based connectivity glue between the solution's central DI-r and the local PACS and Radiology Information Systems (RIS) distributed across the 39 sites.

According to Dr. Charles Stockham, DeJarnette's Executive Vice President, "DeJarnette's technology provides the critical ability to localize foreign exams by performing Context Management between the various medical treatment facilities. Additionally, the company's technology provides a bridge between each of the disparate, local PACS and RIS and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise's (IHE) Cross-Document Sharing for Imaging (XDS-I) world. The integrated DeJarnette - CGI solution is currently undergoing customer acceptance testing and is scheduled to go live in the spring of 2012."

"The GTA West DI-r project is the final step towards sharing all hospital diagnostic images across the province," said Greg A. Reed, President and CEO, eHealth Ontario. "Patients in any of the 151 hospitals in Ontario will experience reduced wait times and lengths of stay because physicians and specialists will receive more immediate exam reports, enabling them to make faster and more informed clinical decisions."

According to Lydia Lee, Vice-President and Chief Information Officer, UHN, "CGI's Diagnostic Imaging repository solution will help us meet our business goals and objectives of reducing costs, improving efficiencies, while maintaining outstanding standards in patient care."

"We are excited to partner with DeJarnette, a leader in medical imaging and informatics technology, to implement our shared Diagnostic Imaging solution for UHN and the GTA West Consortium", said Hitesh Seth, Sector Vice-President, Public and Healthcare at CGI.

About DeJarnette
DeJarnette Research Systems, Inc. is a world leader in medical imaging interface technology. The company is dedicated to increasing the efficiency of image management workflow for all healthcare providers. Founded in 1985, the Towson, Maryland-based company engineers, manufactures and markets PACS workflow components, healthcare IT software, and imaging interface hardware. The company's solutions are sold through dealers, resellers and OEM partners. DeJarnette maintains an ISO 9001 and TickIT certified quality management system.

For more information on DeJarnette and their PACSware family of component products in North America, contact Philip Rispoli, VP Business Development at (410) 583-0680 x 109 or at [email protected]. Web site: www.dejarnette.com.

About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is one of the largest independent information technology and business process services firms in the world. CGI provides end-to-end IT and business process services to clients worldwide from offices and centers of excellence in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB) and are included in both the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Index.

About the GTA West DI-r
The GTA West DI-r is one of four shared diagnostic imaging repositories in Ontario and will be the largest with three million exams annually. The GTA West DI-r will be the first project in Ontario to use IHE XDS to facilitate sharing of diagnostic imaging exams and results. The GTA West DI-r is co-funded by eHealth Ontario and Canada Health Infoway.

About University Health Network
University Health Network consists of Toronto General, Toronto Western and Princess Margaret Hospitals, and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. The scope of research and complexity of cases at University Health Network has made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. It has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, with major research in cardiology, transplantation, neurosciences, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, genomic medicine and rehabilitation medicine. University Health Network is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto.

About eHealth Ontario
eHealth Ontario plays the leading role in harnessing technology and innovation to improve patient care, safety and access in support of the government's health strategy. The agency is responsible for implementing the government's ehealth agenda and creating electronic health records for Ontarians.

About Canada Health Infoway
Canada Health Infoway (Infoway) is an independent, not-for-profit organization funded by the federal government. Infoway jointly invests with every province and territory to accelerate the development and adoption of information and communications technology projects in Canada. Fully respecting patient confidentiality, these secure systems will provide clinicians and patients with the information they need to better support safe care decisions and manage their own health. Accessing this vital information quickly will help foster a more modern and sustainable health care system for all Canadians.

Media Contact:
University Health Network
Anna Velonis
Communications Lead, GTA West DI-r Project
(416)340-4800 Ext. 8566
[email protected]

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