From the June 2016 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Medical image exchanges (MIEs), also known as medical image sharing (MIS), were first shown at RSNA in 2009 and have taken off in recent years. Rather than using traditional media, such as a CD or DVD, and either shipping the data out on disks or having patients carry it with them, this technology now allows for the sharing of these images using either the cloud or point-to-point communications, or both. MIS is used by hospitals, imaging centers, PCP’s offices and others, allowing clinicians to have immediate access to images and information from all clinical systems as opposed to waiting for physical media to arrive. DICOM and non-DICOM images are typically supported as are jpeg, mpeg, avi, pdf, doc and other file formats. Having access to a patient’s medical history improves the point-of-care service.
Patients are also able to receive their imaging exams electronically, without having to carry and store physical media. It also allows for the ability to see physicians in multiple locations and have studies available there as well. “The new value-based care models require new tools for imaging,” said Morris Panner, CEO of DICOM Grid, an MIE provider. “At first, clinicians deployed DICOM Grid to access imaging imprisoned by PACS and old-style VNA. The trend we’re seeing today is that radiologists are implementing true cloud VNA and image exchange to be at the center of the care network, which extends well beyond the hospital.”
There are well over a dozen vendors competing in the MIE marketplace in addition to all the major PACS providers, with physical, cloud and hybrid solutions all being offered as transport mechanisms. Many systems allow health care providers to use a cloud platform with the full image management stack including image exchange, VNA and an integrated universal (FDA 510k cleared) viewer, while others just use an MIE solution alone. Major health systems often leverage the MIS platform as an interoperability layer for imaging and running traditional PACS systems for their basic needs, but use a third-party provider like DICOM Grid for outside image management, archive and more.
Since the ransomware case that occurred at a southern California hospital in February, hospitals nationwide have been looking at ways that their security can be strengthened. This is especially important with PACS, where so many devices are interconnected, allowing for several ways to access the PACS server and other clinical systems by staging a back-door attack. Several PACS now use a combination of physical and virtual servers, and both need to be properly secured.
