Rochester, NY - December 28, 2005 - Logical Images, a developer of software that helps clinicians make faster and more accurate diagnoses of visually identifiable conditions, today announced the nationally recognized Okeechobee County Health Department (OCHD) has licensed its VisualDx disease identification software. The system will be used to further improve the county's readiness for public health emergencies, and to assist healthcare providers in rapid and accurate diagnosis, therapy and management of patients at its full service primary care clinic.
VisualDx, an image-based diagnostic tool with over 10,000 medical photographs of nearly 600 diseases, visually helps clinicians answer the questions: "What is this?" and "How do I treat it?" when they are faced with a patient with fever and rash, a variation of a common skin condition, a potential drug eruption, a lesion in the mouth, or any other common or unusual visual presentation, including infectious diseases and conditions caused by terrorism. After physicians enter basic observations about their patient - such as the type of lesion and its distribution, symptoms, signs, medical history, etc. - the system instantly returns photographs of diseases, sorted by relevance to their patient, as well as clinical information on each disease.
OCHD, an inland county with its southern boundary on Lake Okeechobee and a population of nearly 40,000, is one of only 14 public health agencies in the nation that was recognized by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) for its ability to respond to public health emergencies. This designation, part of Project Public Health Ready, follows extensive review by NACCHO in the areas of preparedness planning, worker competence and demonstration of readiness through drills and exercises. VisualDx was selected by OCHD to further improve the county's capabilities in regards to preparedness, early detection, and training while providing a valuable diagnosis and treatment resource for the healthcare providers in the county's full service primary care clinic. Okeechobee CHD is the first county health department in Florida to acquire this new software.
"We are committed to building a foundation for a healthy future for our residents," said county Health Officer Michael Hill. "Technology like VisualDx helps us on two fronts - it increases our level of preparedness for terrorism and infectious disease and helps us improve the care we provide to our residents day-to-day."
VisualDx is used across the United States to aid diagnosis of both common and unusual conditions as well as to meet federal goals for bioterrorism preparedness. Major clients include the U.S. Army Medical Command, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Washington, D.C. Emergency Health Medical Services Administration (EHMSA), state departments of health such as Mississippi, New York, and Delaware, as well as county departments of health and many other locations in the United States and worldwide.
"Okeechobee County is a national frontrunner in preparedness, as evidenced by their designation by NACCHO as Project Public Health Ready county, through their proactive public health initiatives. They have made a commitment to better serve their citizens by providing advanced diagnostic tools to the doctors that care for them," said Dr. Art Papier, founder and chief scientific officer of Logical Images. "VisualDx will do more than help OCHD rapidly detect public health threats. The system also will help Okeechobee County clinicians in the early recognition and diagnosis of unusual rashes and infectious disease."
VisualDx is based on the world's largest digital library of medical images - over one million images from leading research institutions, such as New York University, the University of California Los Angeles and the University of Rochester, as well as private collections from physician experts around the world. These images encompass a full spectrum of skin types and capture a wide range of variation in the presentation of each disease. The photographs of disease and clinical content are networked by nearly twenty thousand relationships to facilitate access to the images and text by entering known and observable facts, and, unlike medical atlases, without having to know the name of the disease.
About Logical Images
Based in Rochester, NY, Logical Images develops products to speed visual recognition and clinical decision making. It is a company of digital imaging experts, leaders in computer-based design and knowledge management, skilled image archivists, and practicing physicians. The company's comprehensive library of digital medical photographs and easy-to-use software helps clinicians in critical jobs make better decisions. www.logicalimages.com.