Remote Archiving Patient Data System Manages Data Growth Cost-Effectively

A data access point (DAP) will be installed in a Dutch hospital to provide the interface to a hosted information management (HIM) service. The DAP has storage capacity, from a few days to several years of data production, and can be customized to meet specific requirements and workflow. The DAP can exchange information from different local system--modalities, viewing stations, picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) from different vendors, information systems such as radiology information systems (RIS), and the web portal using standard protocols such as Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) or HL7 (Health Level 7)--and archive the information in a patient-centric manner.

Nij Smellinghe Hospital (Drachten, The Netherlands), has selected the HIM service from Carestream Health, Inc. (Rochester, NY, USA) to remotely archive existing and future patient data. Under a contract between the companies, which runs for five years, the HIM service will securely store an estimated nine Terabytes of both DICOM and non-DICOM images in a central data center, from which authorized users can archive, share, and distribute patient data.

Nij Smellinghe Hospital is known for its use of advanced technologies and for providing high-quality health services to the population of Drachten and the wider community. The hospital became filmless in 1999 following the installation of Carestream PACS, becoming the first hospital within The Netherlands with enterprise-wide PACS facilities. This early adoption of PACS has resulted in a significant and growing volume of imaging studies and patient information requiring management.

"I searched for several years for a partner with the right solution to securely store and retrieve large volumes of patient data outside the hospital," said Wim Loman, information technology (IT) manager at Nij Smellinghe Hospital. "The growth of patient data is explosive--radiology images, video, sound, pictures, patient monitoring, and data management systems--all with a storage requirement of a minimum of 15 years. Costs escalate as more and more storage within the hospital is required to meet the growing volume. The data must also be migrated over time to a new medium requiring additional administrators to ensure system uptime. In the long term, it is more efficient and cost-effective for an expert partner like Carestream Health to meet our needs for reliable archiving and retrieval."

The connection is made to the data center through a private network, which manages the transfer of data from the local site in an efficient and secure way. Several copies are stored of all data transmitted by the DAP for protection and disaster recovery.

"We have a mature PACS market here in the Netherlands and many hospitals see the benefits of managing the growing volume of patient data by remote storage," said Frank van Ravels, regional business development manager, North Europe, Carestream Health Netherlands. "We will operate the service 24/7 to eliminate the resource and financial issues associated with managing a complex infrastructure by converting them into an annual operating cost."

Developed in Europe, the key advantages of Carestream Health's remote archive services are: (1) A flexible combination of on site and remote storage to meet existing workflows with on site storage ranging from a few days to several years; (2) enables a virtual community with all sites connected, even where different PACS modalities and workstations are operating; (3) secure remote access by authorized users using intelligent streaming for smooth transfer of images, even large studies; (4) data center distribution to referring physicians with remote viewing through a web portal; (5) interfaces to any PACS modalities and RIS systems using Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) standards (DICOM, HL7).

Carestream Health has licensed the Kodak brand for use with its own brands--such as Carestream, Directview, and Dryview--across its range of medical imaging and healthcare IT products. The company is a leading provider of dental and medical imaging systems and healthcare IT solutions; molecular imaging systems for life-science research and drug discovery/development market segments; and X-ray film and digital X-ray products for the non-destructive testing market.

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Nij Smellinghe Hospital
Carestream Health