Simplifying image formatting and patient data sharing with a vendor-neutral archive

By Tyler Harris

The shift to a digital environment has delivered greater workflow efficiencies, cost savings, improved report turnaround time and has recaptured floor space by eliminating the need to store films. However the explosion of digital images and large data sets for modalities such as CT, MR, and mammography have introduced new challenges for the medical community.

“Vendors need to provide a vendor-neutral, industry standard archive solution for data storage and stop worrying about ‘hooking’ customers into having to use their proprietary system. It’s time to start thinking about the greater good of the site, the patient and the community.”
-Tyler Harris NovaRad Vice President, Clinical Solutions

Take for example CT. Data sets that used to be 200 slices only eight years ago now average 1,600 slices or more. The advantage is these scans provide a lot more information that hopefully results in better diagnosis for patients, but the drawback is that their sheer size taxes the network and the systems. Combined with large data sets, the growing expectation for patient data sharing through electronic health records (EHR), vendor-neutral data repositories are becoming essential. 

Pain Points of Proprietary Systems

The challenge many facilities face is a lot of the vendors sell systems that store images in proprietary non-standard, non-DICOM formats. The drawback to these proprietary systems is they create a lot of interfacing, compatibility, data sharing and consultation issues and inefficiencies down the road.  These issues often aren't thought about or even discussed when a system is being purchased, but they quickly come to the forefront once the system is in place and day-to-day operations resume.

The difficulty posed by proprietary systems becomes apparent when trying to export images to send with patients who then take the images to their referring physicians or other specialists or when physicians try to share data between facilities. 

These issues arise again when users want to replace their outdated or costly system with a new generation or cost-effective system.  Facilities quickly learn that the data migration and conversion process is more difficult, costly and time consuming than ever anticipated.

Vendors need to provide a vendor-neutral, industry standard archive solution for data storage and stop worrying about "hooking" customers into having to use their proprietary systems. It's time to start thinking about the greater good of the site, the patient and the community.

Why then aren't more companies moving to standards-based PACS, RIS and other systems? Simple economics. Because customers find themselves locked into a proprietary system vendors have a guaranteed revenue stream.

Overcoming Proprietary Hurdles with a Vendor-Neutral Archive

If changing your PACS, RIS or other system is not an option, a vendor-neutral archive (VNA) provides a scalable and affordable option.

With a VNA, entire image archives can be consolidated in DICOM format in a single location. This central database repository eases image routing, retrieval, extended storage and patient data sharing across departments and between hospitals and physician offices.

Vendor-neutral archives also prove to be a cost-efficient solution for large organizations that have been through multiple PACS/RIS vendors or have disparate systems by eliminating the hassle and expense of converting proprietary data.

The Bottom Line

The efficiency benefits of vendor-neutral archives also positively impact the bottom line. With proprietary systems, facilities are experiencing many of the hassles they had with film - mainly, it's hard to share images and data from one facility to another. So, while most facilities are now 100 percent digital, FTEs are still spending time burning CDs, converting files, or tying up IT staff trying to figure out how to route and retrieve images.

A vendor-neutral archive eliminates all of these obstacles and frees time of staff to be refocused toward clinical activities that benefit both the patient and the practice.

A VNA can also help put off the move, and expense, to a replacement system because it simplifies access to once difficult-to-access images or data files.

Finally, because storage space can be expanded easily and relatively inexpensively, keeping up with ever-increasing image volumes is solved.

While vendors most likely do not have, at least in the short term, plans to move to standards-based systems, vendor-neutral archives provide a viable solution to reducing access challenges as we all work toward the goal of improving patient data sharing,

NovaRad offers the vendor-neutral NovaArchive and the NovaVault archive service. Its NovaPACS, NovaRIS and other radiology technologies are all DICOM-compliant and built on industry standards.

About

Tyler Harris is vice president, clinical solutions at NovaRad Corporation. In this position, he leverages his years of clinical in-hospital experience to help hospitals, clinics and imaging centers improve workflow procedures, productivity and patient care. Prior to joining NovaRad, Harris worked as a licensed radiology technologist.