Tag: radiology

PACS Replacement Market Heats Up: In Search of Bigger, Better, Faster

Posted on by Greg Dennis

Medical information technology (IT) users and users of consumer IT have at least one thing in common: they both have a fascination with the next big thing.

Consumers’ gaze always seems pointed toward the next big thing, needed or not. Over the years, interest has shifted from desktop computers to laptops to tablets and mobile devices.

The situation in medicine is not so unidirectional. In fact, right now, attention appears focused on an old, invaluable favorite: the picture archiving and communication system (PACS).

According to a recent report from market researcher KLAS, the PACS replacement market seems to be gathering momentum.

Large hospitals are leading the parade. Of hospitals and health systems with more than 1,000 beds, nearly one in six told KLAS they are in the planning process of replacing their PACS.

One of the reasons that the PACS replacement market is heating up again: The early PACS were strictly radiology systems. They were used to store, access, and distribute digital imaging files.

The current PACS generation encompasses radiology information systems (RIS) and cardiovascular information systems (CVIS), too. A RIS is a computerized radiology database with functions that include results reporting, patient tracking and scheduling, and image tracking. Interfaced with PACS and in many cases a hospital information system (HIS), the RIS plays a central role in radiology workflow, from radiology practices to hospitals. In a similar way, a CVIS is a workflow solution for cardiology departments and practices.

But the large hospital/health system decision makers who responded to the KLAS survey don’t want just any PACS/RIS/CVIS. They said they wanted innovative technology from a new PACS vendor with in-depth clinical and radiological expertise. They demand reliability, scalability, interoperability, mobility and accessibility, as well. Finally, they want their vendor to be a strategic partner.

Those are not unreasonable expectations. In fact, they are all qualities, according to KLAS voters themselves, of the company they chose as 2011’s top PACS vendor in the large hospital category: DR Systems (San Diego) (a Dowling & Dennis client).

Besides DR’s industry-leading technology, KLAS voters cite the company for working extremely well with customers. A PACS is not – or at least should not be– be an off-the-shelf product. Customers should have access to executives and product designers at the vendor company so they can customize and even help evolve the product to better fit their needs.

Which is why we think hospitals may be better off purchasing from “best of breed” companies like DR Systems, rather than from large corporate vendors that have a medical division but also divide their attention among many other divisions.

While it’s mainly large health systems that are planning PACS replacements now, it probably won’t stay that way. The KLAS analysts believe the wave the big institutions are starting will eventually envelop smaller hospitals, too.

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Healthcare IT’s Failings: Even the Onion Has Noticed

Posted on by Greg Dennis

How far behind is healthcare in the full and efficient use of information technology?

So far behind that even The Onion has noticed.

The satirical newspaper and website normally focuses on “stories” such as Joe Biden’s fascination with hot babes and his muscle car. Recently, though, The Onion took aim at the shortcomings of healthcare IT with an article titled “Quick-Lube Shop Masters Electronic Record Keeping Six Years Before Medical Industry.” Written in typical Onion style that makes it seem like an actual news report, the article quotes a fictitious garage owner:

‘We figured that a basic database would help us with everything from scheduling regular appointments to predicting future lubrication requirements,’ said the proprietor of the local oil-change shop, Karl Lemke, who has no special logistical or programming skills, and who described his organizational methods, which are far more advanced than those of any hospital emergency room, as ‘basic, common-sense stuff.’

‘We can even contact your insurance provider for you to see if you’re covered and for how much, which means we can get to work on what’s wrong without bothering you about it. The system not only saves me hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, but it saves my customers a bundle, too.’

And here’s the part that really hurts: “Lemke added that he also routinely and politely inquires about his customers’ health and well-being, which puts him roughly 145 years ahead of the medical industry.”

Of course things aren’t nearly as bad as The Onion makes them out to be.

Thanks to the efforts of cloud computing pioneers such as eMix and others, things are in fact getting better. And hundreds of millions of federal stimulus dollars are flowing into healthcare to get MDs’ office online and to computerize and interconnect hospitals’ records through PACS and other technology.

But as one wag said about The Onion story to blogger Neil Versel, the current status of medical industry It is “so pathetic that a bunch of young joke writers in NYC who almost never go to the doctor have noticed.”

eMix a Radiology Success in Montana

Posted on by Greg Dennis

Healthcare Informatics magazine reports in its new issue on eMix and the Montana consortium known as IMOM. Using eMix (Electronic Medical Information Exchange — http://www.emix.com) IMOM facilities are sharing radiology images and reports.

See the full article at http://tinyurl.com/29b35db.

Montana facilities use eMix to share radiology images and reports much more quickly and at less expense — realizing a key goal for many of the state’s rural healthcare facilities.

The article puts it this way:

“eMix uses cloud-based technology to house images after they are encrypted and pass through eight layers of security that include a physically secure data center and member and user authentication. The uploaded images are then accessible to the intended recipient through a simple download following an e-mail notification.

“Beginning in November 2009, three Montana health providers-Great Falls Clinic, St. Luke Community Hospital in Ronan, and Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell, all with different PACS, started beta testing the eMix service. No significant problems were encountered, and three additional facilities-Benefis Health System in Great Falls, St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings, and Glendive Medical Center in Glendive, were added as beta sites. In March 2010 beta testing concluded and the facilities signed up with eMix to continue sharing images.”

eMix is a venture of DR Systems (www.dominator.com), a client of Dowling & Dennis PR.

eMix Radiology Cloud Computing Expands

Posted on by Greg Dennis

Radiology is in a transition phase when it comes to sharing radiology data between various users. We’re moving from sharing files on old technology such as CDs to sharing images and reports using cloud computing– that is, sharing the files in electronic form using a hosted service on the Internet.

During this transition time, however, hospitals are still getting a lot of radiology files on CDs. How they move those files to hospitals and doctors without the expense, hassle, and time delays of mail or shipping? eMix – created by DR Systems, a client of Dowling & Dennis PR — has found a way.

eMix (“electronic medical information exchange,” http://www.emix.com) is the leading cloud-based system for sharing radiology images and reports. It has just added a terrific new feature: The ability to import data from CDs.

Now when hospitals get radiology data on CDs, they can import it into eMix. From there, the files can be read, moved to another hospital IT system such as a PACS or radiology information system, or sent via the cloud to another hospital or doctor.

The process is as simple as sending email. The new eMix feature enables them editing of the imported exam’s medical record number (MRN) so it corresponds to their own numbering system and also create a radiology order session number.

This new feature also allows users to import data into eMix from a USB thumb drive, external hard disk, and/or other digital storage device. That makes eMix the ideal bridge into the future, from the technology mix we have today.

Cloud Brightens Radiology

Posted on by Greg Dennis

While healthcare reform will make immediate changes in the medical landscape, one aspect of care is still evolving only slowly. The problem: Most patient information remains on paper, stored away in files. Even most electronic patient information remains in silos – and is often not readily accessible, with appropriate privacy safeguards, to caregivers who need it.

Radiology, which generates most of the information in an electronic health record, has traditionally relied on proprietary picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) to store and transmit patient info. While PACS will remain central to radiology, much of this information will eventually migrate to the “cloud” of digitalized info that can be uploaded and downloaded remotely – again with privacy safeguards – to and from websites and servers.

This month has seen the official commercial launch of eMix (“electronic medical information exchange,” http://www.emix.com). It’s the leading new application for sharing radiology images and reports, but it certainly won’t be the only one.

eMix solves a problem that has vexed medical imaging: how to securely share radiology data between proprietary PACS and other IT systems that don’t “talk to each other.” The solution: Use cloud computing to make data sharing as easy as sending and receiving email. The service was created by DR Systems, a client of Dowling & Dennis PR.

As RHIO’s (regional health information organizations) evolve into HIE’s (health information exchanges), they’ll have to figure out how HIE members can easily and inexpensively share patient information. Given how hard this is to do institution-by-institution or state-by-state, it seems inevitable that HIE’s will look to the cloud for the solution.

eMix Radiology Sharing Service Debuts

Posted on by Greg Dennis

eMix, a groundbreaking new technology for sharing radiology images and reports, has made its debut in Montana health facilities. A number of other health systems are also lined up to use eMix (“electronic medical information exchange”).

For “Healthcare IT” magazine’s coverage of this exciting new service, see http://tinyurl.com/yfo4of7.

The first three institutions to use eMix were Great Falls Clinic,
Kalispell Regional Medical Center, and St. Luke Community Healthcare. The service was created by DR Systems, a client of Dowling & Dennis PR.

eMix solves a problem that has vexed medical imaging: how to securely share radiology data between proprietary PACS and other IT systems that don’t “talk to each other.” The solution: eMix uses “cloud computing” to make data sharing as easy as sending and receiving email.

The three Montana facilities are involved in a grassroots organization called Image Movement of Montana (IMOM), which formed to address the difficulty of sharing radiology images and reports. IMOM approached numerous vendors for possible solutions. DR System’s eMix was by far the most attractive option because it was simple, affordable, and required no new hardware or software.

For more information, visit http://www.emix.com.