Direct Solutions Division
Named Merge eMed; OEM and International Division to Remain Cedara
Milwaukee, WI, USA, June 9, 2005 – Merge Technologies Incorporated (NASDAQ:
MRGE), historically d.b.a. Merge eFilm, a leading global healthcare
software and services company, today announced that it has changed its
corporate name to Merge Healthcare, following its recent merger with Cedara
Software Corp and its subsidiary eMed Technologies. The stock will
continue to trade on NASDAQ under the MRGE symbol, and will trade on the
Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MRG. Merge Healthcare will
have two operating divisions: Merge eMed, which develops, markets, and
services RIS/PACS products for hospitals, imaging centers and specialty
clinics; and Cedara, which focuses on developing innovative medical imaging
software for the OEM and International markets.
“The name Merge Healthcare states our intent to continue leading the
medical imaging and information management industry within radiology, to
leverage the product innovation depth, quality and speed of our OEM
Division with the distribution reach of our Direct Solutions Division,
while simultaneously expanding our reach into other healthcare clinical
specialties,” said Richard Linden, President and CEO of Merge Healthcare.
“Merge has evolved over time from a single-product technology company to a
global provider of medical imaging software products, end-to-end solutions
and professional services designed to meet the business and clinical needs
of our OEM and end user target markets. Our new corporate name and
divisional operational model sets the stage for building on the success
Merge, Cedara and eMed have achieved to date, and positioning the company
for further product, healthcare market and geographic expansion.”
“In the direct solutions healthcare market, the Merge eMed brand
communicates the strength of our company’s combined RIS, PACS, Advanced
Visualization and Clinical Application products, services and customer base
that numbers over 500 hospitals, imaging centers and specialty clinics. In
our OEM and International Division, the Cedara brand is reinforced by the
addition of the experienced Merge OEM group, becoming the largest
independent developer of innovative medical imaging software. We have
leveraged the brand equity of all three organizations while establishing a
clear message that builds upon the strengths of the three merged
organizations to deliver value to our stakeholders – employees, customers
and shareholders,” said Linden.
Merge Healthcare is a market leader in the development and delivery of
medical imaging and information management software and services. With
over twenty years of leadership in the medical imaging and healthcare
information technology markets, Merge Healthcare provides innovative
solutions for both OEM and the end-user healthcare markets. We custom
engineer clinical and imaging applications and development tools that are
on the forefront of medicine and its use of medical imaging for OEM and
international customers. We develop innovative medical imaging software
solutions that support end-to-end business and clinical workflow for
radiology department and specialty practices, imaging centers and
hospitals. Our innovative software solutions use leading-edge imaging
software technologies that accelerate market delivery for our OEM
customers, while our end-user solutions improve our customers’ productivity
and enhance the quality of patient care they provide. For additional
information, visit our website at www.merge.com.
Merge eMed is a division of Merge Healthcare focused on accelerating
productivity for radiology department and specialty practices, imaging
centers and hospitals. By combining sophisticated RIS, PACS, advanced
visualization and clinical imaging applications, Merge eMed delivers
integrated end-to-end software solutions and professional services that are
transforming the way our customers interact with referring physicians,
manage their workflow, position their businesses in their markets and
deliver imaging services. We ensure our customers’ success in today’s
competitive healthcare environment by streamlining business and clinical
workflow with digital image and information solutions and services. For
additional information, visit our website at www.merge.com and
www.emed.com.
Cedara is a division of Merge Healthcare focused on the development of
custom engineered software applications and development tools for the
medical imaging OEM and International markets. Cedara software is deployed
in hospitals and clinics worldwide and is licensed by many of the world’s
leading medical device and healthcare information technology companies.
Cedara technologies and expertise span all the major digital imaging
modalities including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI), digital X-ray, mammography, ultrasound, echo-cardiology,
angiography, nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography (PET) and
fluoroscopy. Cedara medical imaging offerings are used in all aspects of
clinical imaging workflow including the capture of a patient’s digital
image; the archiving, communication and manipulation of digital images;
sophisticated clinical applications to analyze digital images; and the use
of imaging in minimally-invasive surgery. For additional information,
visit our website at www.cedara.com.
