Delaware's Division of Public Health has chosen the VisualDx® software by Logical Images to be installed in hospitals nationwide. The system is being funded through grants from the National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program administered by the federal Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA).

"We're pleased that Delaware chose VisualDx as a way to increase bioterrorism preparedness," says Micheal O'Connor, president of Logical Images. VisualDx will be installed in every acute-care hospital emergency department in the state, he says.

"VisualDx helps clinicians in hospitals, emergency rooms, government agencies, and other organizations make better decisions, ultimately reducing costs and improving outcomes and safety - including potential bioterrorist acts,"

The VisualDx software system allows clinicans to input specific information based on their examination of a patient. The system then searches its database of more than 10,000 images of 600 diseases and comes up with high-quality photos and descriptions of possible conditions that fit the information the doctor has input, enabling a rapid and more accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment.

Due to its detailed information on anthrax, smallpox, and other agents that might be intentionally released by terrorists, bioterrorism-preparedness experts say VisualDx is a valuable tool in the war on terrorism.

"VisualDx was designed as a dual-purpose system so that in addition to its terrorism-related capabilities, it is used on a daily basis in hospitals, clinics, and public-health settings to quickly and accurately identify visually diagnosable conditions such as infectious diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, skin conditions, oral lesions, drug eruptions, and the like," says Art Papier, MD, Logical Images' chief scientific officer. "Particularly in areas with limited access to dermatologists or infectious-disease specialists, VisualDx helps emergency physicians and primary care doctors by giving them visual as well as textual information so they can make an accurate diagnosis and start the right treatment quickly."

The dual-purpose nature of VisualDx is important to emergency-preparedness officials in Delaware. "Using Visual Dx on a day-to-day basis to diagnose rashes and the like means there isn't going to be a learning curve in an emergency," says Gerald Watson, safety manager for Alfred I duPont Hospital in Wilmington and a member of the Delaware State Emergency Preparedness Committee.

Additionally, VisualDx is now being used by the US Army; major hospitals and public health clinics throughout New York City, Washington, DC, and the state of Mississippi; regional resource centers throughout New York State; and many other emergency departments, hospitals, physician offices, and clinics in the United States and worldwide.

Contact:
Logical Images
(800) 357-7611
www.logicalimages.com