Nuance Image Sharing Network Helps Focus Attention on Pediatric Patients

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Nuance Communications, Inc. NUAN today announced two important commitments to helping wishes come true for pediatric patients who will have a wish granted by Make-A-Wish^®. On a national scale, Nuance will connect Make-A-Wish kids to the largest pediatric image sharing network in the U.S., Nuance PowerShare, to help them get the best care possible when traveling on wish experiences. Additionally, Nuance is donating $15,000 to Make-A-Wish Illinois to support children like Shane, an 11-year-old, who has wished to go to San Diego and take in all the local attractions this summer.

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When pediatric patients travel for fun or to see a specialist, medical images often do not go with them and that puts patients at risk, makes them harder to treat, causes delays in care, and exposes children to repeat testing and radiation. Physicians at Orlando Health, who were using Nuance's cloud-based image sharing, saw an opportunity to leverage this Network more broadly to help kids visiting Florida theme parks as well as thousands of Make-A-Wish kids with life-threatening illnesses who travel each year to fulfill their wishes.

Powering Wishes Through Technology

In November, Nuance launched a dedicated Make-A-Wish PowerShare pilot program at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, part of Orlando Health, with plans to expand the Network to popular wish destinations across the country. This program enables pediatric care teams and Make-A-Wish families to upload their child's medical images to the cloud making these records available to providers when these children visit a location and may need emergency care.

"There is not a pediatric radiologist out there who has not treated a Make-A-Wish child, and none of them have had prior images unless families have brought them on a CD," said Dr. Shoba Srikantan, a pediatric critical care physician at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and National Medical Advisor for Make-A-Wish. "We're honored to be the first provider of this program combining Nuance technology with the Make-A-Wish program to alleviate this problem for these patients through a Make-A-Wish PowerShare account."

"Recognizing the value and importance of cloud-based image sharing to pediatric hospitals, Nuance is better connecting Make-A-Wish kids and physicians across the United States through Nuance PowerShare to support families and these important wish trips," said Karen Holzberger, vice president and general manager of Nuance's diagnostic solutions. "We are also donating $15,000 to Make-A-Wish Illinois as part of a fundraiser at RSNA16 to raise additional funds by encouraging radiologists who are in Chicago attending the scientific assembly to help support wish children by contributing to the local chapter."

To contribute to Make-A-Wish Illinois, either donate online using this Wish link or visit Nuance booth #2700 at the Radiological Society of North America Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting November 28-30.

Nuance provides intelligent systems that support a more natural and insightful approach to clinical documentation, freeing clinicians to spend more time caring for patients. Nuance healthcare solutions capture, improve and communicate more than 300 million patient stories each year helping more than 500,000 clinicians in 10,000 global healthcare organizations to drive meaningful clinical and financial outcomes. Nuance's award-winning clinical speech recognition, medical transcription, CDI, coding, quality and medical imaging solutions provide a more complete and accurate view of patient care.

About Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance Communications, Inc. NUAN is a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with devices and systems. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance's proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

About Make-A-Wish

Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. According to a 2011 U.S. study of wish impact, most health professionals surveyed believe a wish-come-true has positive impacts on the health of children. Kids say wishes give them renewed strength to fight their illness, and their parents say these experiences help strengthen the entire family. Headquartered in Phoenix, Make-A-Wish is one of the world's leading children's charities, serving children in every community in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and more than 28,000 volunteers, Make-A-Wish grants a wish somewhere in the country every 35 minutes. It has granted more than 270,000 wishes since its inception in 1980; more than 14,800 in 2015 alone. Visit Make-A-Wish at www.wish.org to learn more.

Trademark reference: Nuance and the Nuance logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.

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