PACS firm brings archive expertise

Cerner announced Aug. 20 the purchase of privately held Image Devices, a PACS developer based near Frankfurt, Germany. The acquisition will promote the continued development and enhancement of Cerner's PACS, while substantially increasing the Kansas City, MO, company's presence in Europe. It is expected to be nondilutive in 2002 and slightly accretive in 2003. Most of Image Devices' more than 80 European PACS installations are in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Additionally, its image archives are installed in more than 30 U.S. hospitals. Image Devices has been working with Cerner since 1999, developing and supplying image archive components for Cerner's ProVision PACS. The archive is a key element of Cerner's Open Image Foundation, which provides enterprise-wide image storage, according to Cerner. From now on, Image Devices will be known as "Image Devices, a Cerner company." Its PACS technology will be sold under the Cerner ProVision PACS brand name globally. All Image Devices staff will be retained and will remain located in the Aachen and Idstein, Germany, offices, according to Cerner.