Berwyn, Pennsylvania. The National Digital Medical Archive [NDMA] today announces a major upgrade to its consumer portal service [myNDMA] namely, the elimination of a fee-for-storage subscription-based program. Along with several new features, patients will now also enjoy the full benefits of a personal health record [PHR] which includes FREE on-demand, unlimited access and unlimited storage capacity for their electronic health records and digital medical images for their personal management and use.

The NDMA is the first system of its kind that collects, manages, stores and retrieves digital images and related data to benefit the needs of physicians and patients. This centralized repository supports the healthcare industry's movement toward building a national infrastructure for the sharing of medical information to improve the overall quality of healthcare delivery. "This new upgrade has been designed to encourage early adoption and utilization of a personal health record, through the addition of new features and by eliminating the monetary boundaries previously preventing full participation by patients. Using its unique national infrastructure, myNDMA account members will have unlimited and secured personal access to all information and documentation populated by the patient and link it to live clinical data in the NDMA populated by their physicians," says NDMA President Derek Danois.

"The changes demonstrated in myNDMA Release 2.0 are reflective of the overwhelming need by patients to be able to manage their own personal health information, and the need to marry that information with actual medical records in their doctors' offices. Many studies have been conducted to determine whether patients will use a PHR, and have demonstrated that there is a significant population who wish to manage their own personal health information. However, utilization has been slow due to two primary barriers: (1) the efforts required to populate the PHR; and (2) the costs associated in creating a PHR. myNDMA has made a significant advance towards reducing both barriers by pre-populating patient data and totally eliminating the cost factor. Creating the connection between the live medical content stored in the NDMA, along with the information contained in myNDMA, enables patients to maintain access of their complete medical record with minimal effort and no cost," says NDMA Vice President, Marketing, Diane Hockstein.

Danois further added, "We strongly believe in the vision to establish a national electronic health record system, and have committed our resources to encourage patient participation in the process. With our unique infrastructure and unmatched capabilities, we believe that we are in a position to support the critical element necessary for the transition to a true electronic health record, namely, strengthening the bridge between patients and doctors without imposing additional financial burdens on the patient."

In order to achieve widespread adoption of a personal health record by consumers, myNDMA will be made available to employers and health insurers, and be offered to employees, encouraging employee participation.

Among many new features to be introduced in myNDMA Release 2.0 is the ability for patients to have unlimited space to securely upload and store their digital medical images and electronic health records at no cost. Some of the unique features include …

• Dashboard identifying medical records currently stored in the NDMA
• Ability to upload and store actual medical records and digital medical images
• Digital Mammography Facility Locator tool
• My Healthcare Provider Locker
• Links to resources including support networks, outreach programs and organizations

In the coming months, patients can also look forward to a number of enhancements, including email notification features which will alert the patient of new studies stored in the NDMA as a result of new healthcare providers using the NDMA as their archive and management system. Additionally, patients will shortly have access to the tools necessary to allow them to securely distribute and share self-selected content with their healthcare providers.

About the National Digital Medical Archive, Inc.

The National Digital Medical Archive, Inc. [NDMA], headquartered in Berwyn, Pa., provides digital medical information management technology delivering an enterprise-class, next generation communications infrastructure to hospitals, physicians, researchers and patients. The NDMA is the first distributed database system of its kind that collects, manages, stores and retrieves digital images and related data to benefit the needs of physicians and patients. The myNDMA program offers patients the opportunity to proactively manage their digital health information in collaboration with the NDMA services. For more information visit www.ndma.us or call Diane L. Hockstein at 610-249-0144.