IT Technology Unifies Images, Data, and Reporting Workflows Throughout Hospital Enterprise

A new integrated information technology (IT) system will unify images, data, and reporting workflows across all imaging departments in a hospital. The technology will allow hospitals to expand towards the latest, advanced imaging technology platform.

Az Groeninge Hospital (Kortrijk, Belgium) has chosen to replace its existing third-party picture archiving and communication system (PACS) with a comprehensive Impax radiology information system (RIS)/PACS/reporting solution. Agfa HealthCare (Mortsel, Belgium) will provide all hardware (excluding the storage) and will manage both hardware and software, under an Agfa HealthCare system management agreement.

Az Groeninge is a large regional hospital and is affiliated with the KU Leuven Hospital network. It is the result of a merger of four hospitals in Kortrijk. With over 1,000 beds, it is one of the largest hospitals in Belgium. Annually, it admits some 35,000 inpatients and some 47,500 outpatients. Az Groeninge is the first nonuniversity hospital in the Benelux to obtain the high level international Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation for patient safety and quality of healthcare (2013). It is also focused on always maintaining the latest and most innovative technology.

The hospital chose to implement the Impax RIS/PACS/reporting solution. The Az Groeninge/Agfa HealthCare agreement includes: Impax RIS/PACS workflow system for data management and reporting. It will be implemented for all imaging departments, in a hospital-wide solution. The existing Impax RIS will also be upgraded to the latest version. Clinical applications include: tight integration with Impax provides point-of-care access to clinical applications such as Fusion and 3D (three-dimensions), supporting, e.g., the positron emission tomography (PET) imaging department with the most advanced technology.

The ICIS (imaging clinical information system) View enables enhanced viewing, sharing, and integration across platforms, with all images from all sources accessible on a single browser-based viewer. The ICIS vendor-neutral archive (VNA) allows integrated archiving of multidepartment, multifacility, and multispecialty imaging data.

The Impax BI is an advanced business intelligence (BI) platform that facilitates healthcare managers and care providers to compile, organize and manage clinical, quality, financial and administrative data. The hospital will continue to use the existing Agfa HealthCare web portal to exchange information with external referring physicians.

Agfa HealthCare will manage both software and hardware under the agreement. This will include monitoring the availability and performance of the local network, server hardware, local network, and operating systems; database management; and backup management. “We were convinced to extend our relationship with Agfa HealthCare not only due to the quality of its solutions, but especially to the strength and availability of its service and support,” comments Dr. Olivier Vanovermeire, head of medical imaging, Az Groeninge. “Agfa HealthCare is a company with a solid structure and proven expertise in medical imaging. And it is a reliable partner in our market, which is important for the future.”

“We are very pleased to have this opportunity to further strengthen our relationship with Az Groeninge, supporting its evolution with our enterprise-wide solutions, as well as our services and support organization,” stated Hans Vandewyngaerde, president, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at Agfa HealthCare.

Related Links:
Az Groeninge Hospital
Agfa HealthCare