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Jesse Theodore, Esri
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General Information: info@Esri.com
General Information: info@Esri.com

Esri Announces BodyViewer Extension for ArcView GIS

Visualize Over 14,000 ICD-9 Codes Quickly and Easily

Redlands, California--Esri today announced BodyViewer, an extension to ArcView GIS software developed by Esri health care business partner of GeoHealth Inc., Redlands, California.

BodyViewer allows users in the healthcare industry to analyze, visualize, and map more than 14,000 ICD-9 codes, which are used worldwide throughout the health care industry to index every known ailment, treatment, and procedure.

BodyViewer was developed directly in response to the need of health care professionals using ICD-9 codes to provide a powerful visual analysis tool that is easy to use.

"When health care professionals are trying to look at the big picture ICD-9 codes are so numerous as to be useless. BodyViewer logically aggregates these codes and displays them graphically as organs and organ systems," says Dr. Christopher Austin, president of GeoHealth Inc. "Then with a few mouse clicks the user can build a map showing where these aggregated ICD-9 codes exist in their community."

"We are excited about GeoHealth's development of BodyViewer and what it means for the health care industry," says Bill Davenhall, healthcare solutions manager, Esri. "This is a tool that will really help people better grasp and visualize ICD-9 data. BodyViewer is so intuitive that most clinicians seeing it for the first time immediate begin to think 'spatially' about data that are relevant to their interests, and this is exactly why we are so enthusiastic about its release."

BodyViewer combines the power of GIS analysis and mapping with computerized pictures of all bodily systems, which are linked to patient medical history databases and relational clinical database management systems.

Users can load a patient-level database such as patient history file, claims payment file, and medical records file, and map the ICD-9 data to a picture of the human body. BodyViewer also allows users to analyze and map data such as charges, length of stay, provider specialty, and payer type.
Instead of the labor-intensive process of working with paper files or complex spreadsheet applications, users can point and click their way to view data in seconds.

By having the capability to graphically view data related to ICD-9 codes, users can make better decisions for a number of applications such as resource allocation, patient tracking, health service demand analysis, policy research, service area evaluation, and more.

Health care companies, including hospitals and medical centers, public health departments, health insurance organizations, and health and policy research centers, will benefit from this advanced computerized solution.

BodyViewer Extension for ArcView GIS will be available March 31, 1998.