AGFA and INPHACT Sign Agreement to Supply ADC and IMPAX Products to Community Hospitals, Clinics.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BW HealthWire)--July 19, 2000

Agfa Corporation has signed a purchase and supply agreement with Nashville-based INPHACT(R) that includes Agfa Diagnostic Center (ADC) computed radiography products and IMPAX(R) PACS products as well Agfa field service and professional services such as applications, integration, and project management, if needed.

INPHACT was the first Application Service Provider (ASP) in the medical imaging market, offering an innovative turnkey PACS service to hospitals and clinics. ASP is a technical solution that allows diagnostic imaging departments to "rent" the INPHACT technology platform and includes digital acquisition equipment, information software, image distribution and the archive needed to convert a radiology department from film to PACS.

The hospital or clinic pays a fee per procedure, a savings compared with the large capital outlay required to purchase and maintain PACS technology and have turnkey access to digital image archiving, Internet transmission of images and a fully functional radiology information system (RIS). By spreading the cost of image archiving over several clients, each client saves the expense of purchasing and maintaining their own archive.

"We are pleased that INPHACT has chosen Agfa ADC and IMPAX equipment for its ASP model, which is a new concept for the industry," said John Scarano, Vice President, IMPAX Solutions Sales, Agfa North America. "INPHACT has a significant technical lead in the market with a real solution that is already working in several hospitals and outpatient diagnostic centers."

The new IMPAX contract is valued at a minimum of $5 million over the next 14 months. The Agfa/INPHACT business relationship began about two years ago with INPHACT purchasing Agfa's IMPAX archive and display stations for its back office in Nashville, TN and components for several medical facilities throughout the U.S. Agfa CR and PACS sales to INPHACT before the signing of this contract are estimated at $4 million.

"We believe Agfa is clearly one of the leaders in the PACS marketplace. We want to give our customers best-of-class products delivered through our ASP model," said Jonathan L. Lehman, President and CEO of INPHACT. "We have been able to take several Agfa components and build a new technology around them. The result is that our community hospital customers can utilize the same world-class PACS technology that is available to larger institutions."

ADC, which stands for Agfa Diagnostic Center, is the name of Agfa's computed radiography family of products. Fully compatible with conventional x-ray tables, it is a flexible building block for the digital radiology department. Computed radiography has many advantages, including outstanding image quality and potential reduction in patient dosage and repeats.

With IMPAX, Agfa has created a digital Picture Archive and Communication Systems (PACS) enterprise solution that combines images and information from radiology with other medical data, enhancing efficiency and lowering costs across the healthcare network. IMPAX solutions include diagnostic viewing, image storage and transmission, with new RIS functionality.

IMPAX Basix, designed for lower volume radiology departments, utilizes the full-featured IMPAX hardware infrastructure in a scaled down version to support fewer modalities and displays. Basix is a highly modular system that can support multiple software modules on an appropriately scaled NT hardware platform, which provides an additional cost benefit.

About Agfa

Agfa Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of the Agfa Group, which ranks among the world's leading imaging companies. Agfa develops, produces and markets analog and digital systems, primarily for the graphics industry, medical and industrial radiography, micrographics and motion picture film and consumer imaging and photography markets. Agfa has its headquarters in Mortsel, Belgium, employing about 22,000 people in 40 countries. Worldwide sales for 1999 were 4.7 billion Euro. In the U.S., Agfa is headquartered in Ridgefield Park, NJ, and employs 4,500 people. Product and company information may be found on Agfa's home page on the World Wide Web at www.agfa.com. IMPAX is a registered trademark of Agfa-Gevaert N.V., Belgium. All rights reserved. For information about Agfa's Medical Imaging products and services, please visit Agfa Medical Imaging's web site at www.AgfaMedical.com.

About INPHACT

Based in Nashville, INPHACT(R) provides healthcare facilities and radiologists with comprehensive radiology services including turnkey digital imaging equipment service, online digital image transmission and central archiving, professional reading services, radiology information systems, Internet transmission services and technical support. INPHACT's existing customer base and its affiliates account for more than one third of the over 350 million total radiology procedures performed annually in the U.S. In 1999, Telemedicine Today named INPHACT the top diagnostic teleradiology service provider in the United States for the third year in a row. Product and company information may be found on INPHACT's home page on the World Wide Web at www.INPHACT.com.