Cloud Services Streamline Operational Workflows, Reduce Costs

Healthcare facilities in Europe are leading the world in the implementation of cloud services for the management and distribution of imaging exams and associated patient data. These services streamline operational efficiencies and reduce costs. A new cloud-based service provides rapid access to patient data and images along with sophisticated reading and viewing tools at any on-site or off-site location.
Carestream (Rochester, NY, USA), a world-leading providers of cloud healthcare information technology (IT) infrastructures, presented enhancements to its family of Carestream Vue Cloud Services at the World of Health IT Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, held May 7-9, 2012.

Services are attractive for facilities of all sizes as they deliver high-performance applications on a predictable pay-per-use basis. Carestream’s cloud infrastructure currently manages over 1 billion images worldwide, supported by data centers across the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Japan.

“The pace of technological change and the expense of purchasing, managing and upgrading a radiology infrastructure is motivating healthcare facilities worldwide to implement Carestream’s cloud services,” said Saskia Groeneveld, marketing manager, healthcare information solutions, Carestream Health Europe. ”Our innovative and cost-effective portfolio of cloud services deliver rapid access to patient data and images along with advanced reading and viewing tools for radiologists and clinicians at any on-site or off-site location.”
With cloud services images can be rapidly and easily transmitted via a secure Internet connection to on-site or off-site radiologists for reading and studies can be shared with referring physicians or other clinicians at any location over a basic Internet connection.

These services are attractive for facilities of all sizes because they deliver high-performance applications on a predictable pay-per-use basis without requiring a large capital investment. Larger facilities are embracing the cloud because their information technology (IT) infrastructure requires continuous maintenance, management and technology upgrades. With cloud services they can achieve a faster return on investment and an overall cost reduction of up to 30%. Imaging centers and mid-sized hospitals benefit from a service model that offers high-quality picture archiving and communication system (PACS), archiving, and image sharing functionality along with expertise in data security.

Carestream’s Vue Cloud PACS provides full PACS functionality for image review, storage, and distribution throughout the enterprise including delivering sophisticated reading tools to remote radiologists. Vue Cloud Archive offers virtualized, vendor-neutral storage as well as data protection and disaster recovery of clinical data and can reduce costs by up to 30%; the Vue Cloud Community enables healthcare providers that use the company’s archive service to allow access to that data by authorized clinicians anywhere in the world through a simple Internet connection, making it suitable for inter-hospital collaboration
Carestream has expanded its cloud applications to include mobile imaging data access from its Vue Motion zero footprint viewer and higher levels of encryption and security through use of the Intel Xeon processor E7 family. Employing Intel’s Xeon E7 family of processors not only increases performance but can also deliver hardware-accelerated encryption. Higher levels of security can now be achieved while improving response times for users.

Also currently under development as a works-in-progress is a cloud patient portal that will allow patients to access, view, and share their own medical imaging data with physicians, specialists, and other healthcare facilities. This patient portal is designed to eliminate the cumbersome process of sharing patient imaging data using CDs, DVDs, or radiographic film.

When available the patient portal will enable a healthcare organization to generate a novel and secure log-in for each patient immediately after an exam. Patients will be able to manage and share imaging information with other physicians, specialists, and healthcare facilities at no charge.

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