Mortara Instrument and McKesson Announce Latest Expansions to Horizon Cardiology™

March 31, 2008

DICOM ECG standard used to integrate Mortara ECG modalities into Horizon Cardiology

DICOM ECG standard used to integrate Mortara ECG modalities into Horizon Cardiology

CHICAGO, March 31, 2008 – Today at the American College of Cardiology meeting, Mortara Instrument and McKesson announced Horizon Cardiology’s integration of Mortara ELI™ series electrocardiographs with the McKesson CVIS. The DICOM-enabled ELI devices will communicate bi-directionally and receive a DICOM Modality Worklist (MWL) with patient demographics and order information from Horizon Cardiology, enabling healthcare organizations to operate within a closed-loop ECG workflow. Technicians will no longer need to manually enter demographics at the electrocardiograph, greatly reducing data entry errors and costs associated with them. The solution is showcased in McKesson's ACC booth with the Mortara ELI 350 electrocardiograph.

 

McKesson and Mortara have joined a growing group of industry leaders supporting use of the DICOM standard for ECG. Adoption of DICOM ECG changes the paradigm of proprietary communications protocols and hardware that is commonplace in diagnostic electrocardiography. With DICOM, no proprietary communication protocols are used, protecting the customer from device obsolescence and decoupling the choice of information management solution from device solution.

“Mortara has long recognized the tremendous value of open standards like DICOM,” said Justin Mortara, PhD, vice president, Mortara Instrument. “DICOM enables healthcare providers to pick best-in-class devices that seamlessly integrate with systems like McKesson’s Horizon Cardiology. With McKesson joining a growing list of industry supporters of DICOM ECG, we can now confidently state that the majority of U.S. hospitals are poised to take advantage of this important ECG development and move away from historical, proprietary ECG management solutions."

About Mortara Instrument, Inc.

Mortara Instrument, Inc. based in Milwaukee, WI, is distinguished in the field of

non-invasive cardiology for innovations that are the core of the company’s complete line of ECG products including electrocardiographs, stress exercise systems, Holter systems and data warehousing solutions, and cardiology monitoring systems. The company’s website is www.mortara.com

About McKesson

McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 18th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes, and improving the quality and safety of patient care. McKesson is the longest-operating company in healthcare today, marking its 175th anniversary this year. Over the course of its history, McKesson has grown by providing pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management across the spectrum of care; healthcare information technology for hospitals, physicians, homecare and payors; hospital and retail pharmacy automation; and services for manufacturers and payors designed to improve outcomes for patients. For more information, visit www.mckesson.com.