In a bid to expand its presence in imaging and information management, Eastman Kodak has acquired Computer Knowledge (CKI), an Icelandic RIS provider, and formed a new business unit to handle its RIS and PACS business activities.
The CKI acquisition gives Kodak immediate access to the RIS market, and lets it keep a close eye on opportunities in the broader arena of healthcare information systems, according to Martin Coyne, president of Kodak’s Health Imaging division.
The new business unit will be called PARIS (a term combining PACS and RIS) and will marry CKI and Cemax-Icon of Fremont, CA, Kodak’s PACS division, into a single unit within the Health Imaging division’s framework of regional and functional organizations. As a result, the Cemax-Icon name will be retired and replaced with PARIS.
Kodak is well acquainted with CKI, having maintained a relationship with the firm for the past seven years. Kodak has been an exclusive distributor of CKI’s RIS 2010, an information system that enables healthcare facilities to electronically produce, route and maintain patient records and other key documents, according to Kodak.
Designed for integration throughout the hospital and healthcare environment, the CKI RIS includes the RIS 2010 server, several gateways and other peripheral servers, and workstations. Because it can run on a healthcare institution’s normal computer network, RIS 2010 can be configured for both large and small institutions, Kodak said. Any number of workstations can be used, depending on the facility’s size, or number of departments that must be linked.
As part of its relationship with CKI, Kodak has already been integrating its PACS offerings with RIS 2010 to create image and information management systems. While marketing efforts have been focused on Europe to date, the new business unit will now concentrate on global expansion, according to Kodak.
Kodak said it believes the integration of PACS and RIS will also complement its computed radiography (CR), digital radiography (DR), and laser imaging systems.
While the Cemax-Icon name will be no more, its executives will be well represented in PARIS. Cemax-Icon CEO Gary Larson has been appointed general manager of the PARIS business segment, while president and COO Grady Floyd has been appointed director, worldwide PARIS operations. The unit will be based in Fremont, CA.
By Erik L. RidleyAuntMinnie.com staff writer
September 24, 2000
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