Atlanta (August 30, 2005) -- Forty one percent of heart failure patients had at least one hospital admission noted in their medical record on, or after, the first record of heart failure, reports MDdatacor, inc. These and other findings are found in the results of the healthcare informatics company's first nationwide study on the medical records of six million cardiology patients in its network, "The MDdatacor National Heart Failure Report," which was released today.

"The MDdatacor National Heart Failure Report" is the first in a series of forthcoming studies from the company that will monitor and analyze the data available from the electronic health records of cardiology patients across the U.S. By conducting this research, MDdatacor hopes to be able to uncover similarities in patient profiles or establish treatment trends that can lead to better preventative care, improved treatment outcomes, and reduced costs for physicians, hospitals and payers.

"Ultimately, we want to use our access to the patient's electronic health records to help the patient," said co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Blake Whitney.

The MDdatacor network converts electronic archives of paper data in the physician's office into a remote, searchable database. The company merges patient data from various sources - such as claims, prescriptions and lab results - with the individual patient medical records to produce aggregated information as well as complete individual patient profiles. Key findings from the company's first study include:

• 41% of the heart failure patients have been diagnosed with hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol).
• 28% of the heart failure patients are recorded as obese, 4% morbidly. A person is considered to be obese with a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 25.0 and 25.9. A BMI of 30 or higher indicates obesity. Morbid obesity is a BMI 40 or greater.
• Nearly 60% of the patients are currently on medication for their heart failure; loop diuretics are the most common (45% of patients), followed by ACE Inhibitors (25%) and Beta Blockers (23%).
• The three most commonly prescribed drugs for heart failure represent more than half of all prescribed heart failure drugs (54%).
• Among the population surveyed, heart failure patients tend to be older - 72 years to MDdatacor's network average of 63. There was only a slight difference between genders.
• The study of the MDdatacor network found that heart failure patients were predominantly male in each age category from age 45 until age 80. Females with heart failure were more prevalent in age groups younger than 45 and older than 80.
• Even though Native Americans make up less than one percent of patient population surveyed, they represent four percent of the heart failure patients.

"MDdatacor, inc., is building a national electronic network of patient information for the healthcare industry," concluded Whitney, noting that the company already has the electronic health records of six million patients and 140 cardiology group practices in its network.