Mater Private Hospital in Dublin has signed a multi-year contract in order to launch a comprehensive digital radiology solution.

The contract, an agreement with Carestream Health UK & Ireland, calls for installation to commence mid-2010 and proceed in phases with completion scheduled for the end of the year.

"The integration, usability, advanced 3D and image processing facilities, especially for PET/CT, will support our wide range of disciplines,” said Paddy Gilligan, Principal Physicist at the Mater Private Hospital. "The RIS was very intuitive and matched our workflows and overall the product best suited the detailed requirements laid out in our Request for Procurement."

Mater officials said the contract includes the installation of a number of new IT solutions that include:

•  CARESTREAM DRX Retrofit System to help improve work flow;
•  a DIRECTVIEW Elite CR System with Mammography Feature;
•  and the latest version of the CARESTREAM RIS & PACS.

A Storage Area Network and Virtualised Server environment will host and provide storage for all the Mater Private Hospital’s IT applications, officials said, including the new CARESTREAM RIS & PACS, and during the length of the contract Carestream Health will also provide full service support.

"The Mater Private Hospital was highly rigorous in their evaluation of Carestream Health’s Digital Medical Solutions portfolio, leaving no stone unturned to meet their overall objectives," added Charlie McCaffrey, Managing Director, Carestream Health UK & Ireland. "We are delighted to have been awarded the contract, which sees the first installation in Ireland of both the latest CARESTREAM RIS & PACS platform and the new DRX Retrofit System."