24 September 2015; pdfCompany Announcement Pro Medicus Signs AHN – Acrobat pdf 88k

Key Points:

  • Allegheny Health Network (AHN) to use Pro Medicus’ Visage 7 technology for primary diagnoses and clinical distribution of medical images
  • Five-year deal with base value to PME in excess of A$11 million
  • AHN is a subsidiary of Highmark Health, which is Blue Cross Blue Shield-affiliated
  • The Highmark Health enterprise is the 3rd largest health care delivery & financing system in America
  • Transaction-based model with potential upside

Leading health imaging company Pro Medicus Limited

[ASX: PME] today announced its wholly owned US subsidiary, Visage Imaging Inc, has signed an A$11 million five-year contract with Allegheny Health Network (“AHN”). AHN is a subsidiary of Highmark Health, the 3rd largest health care delivery & financing system in America, which is affiliated with Blue Cross Blue Shield.

The contract will see Pro Medicus’ Visage 7 technology used for primary diagnosis across AHN, as well as clinical distribution of diagnostic images to 2,800 physicians throughout the AHN network via a single point of access to the AHN EHR.

AHN is a unified system comprised of eight hospitals, including Allegheny General Hospital, Allegheny Valley Hospital, Canonsburg Hospital, Forbes Hospital, Jefferson Hospital, Saint Vincent Hospital, Westfield Memorial Hospital and West Penn Hospital. AHN’s integrated care portfolio has an urban, academic and community focus, including over 2,000+ beds and more than 200 locations. AHN is one of the largest health networks in the Pittsburgh metro area, providing care to 29 Pennsylvania counties, as well as portions of New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

“Visage 7’s prominence in enterprise imaging exemplifies the world class capabilities that we’re bringing to AHN,” said Dr Paul M. Kiproff, Chair, AHN Department of Radiology. Dr Kiproff continued, “Visage’s proven experience transforming imaging at many of the nation’s largest health systems was central to our decision making. Visage has successfully transitioned other institutions from the challenges and limitations of multiple legacy PACS to the absolute state-of-the-art capabilities of a fully integrated singular platform, and we look forward to the same experience at AHN.”

The deal, based on a transaction-based licensing model, will see AHN implement Visage 7 as the key component of a Deconstructed PACS® strategy designed to replace their numerous legacy PACS systems. AHN purchased a vendor neutral archive several years ago, and selected a workflow solution in 2014. Selection of Visage 7 is the capstone component of their strategy, and represents the culmination of AHN’s efforts to reinvent imaging across their network, explained Dr Kiproff.

Dr Sam Hupert, CEO of Pro Medicus said, “This is another key milestone for us and is a significant addition to our footprint in the North American market. AHN is a large health network in an extremely competitive local healthcare environment. They were looking for a strategic advantage when it came to diagnostic imaging and importantly, how imaging studies, regardless of size, could be seamlessly distributed to their expansive base of referring clinicians. Once again, the strength of our technology and our proven capabilities were the deciding factors. The fact that they are part of Highmark Health, which is affiliated with the Blue Cross Blue Shield network, will also be positive for us going forward.”