Due to changing regulations and advances in technology, healthcare providers are faced with challenges that some are ill-equipped to handle on their own. Rural providers are particularly stressed due to their limited budgets and shortage of qualified IT personnel to assist with the implementation of a new system, including a radiology information system.
Not only do providers have to deal with new regulations, they also have to live up to old ones, like HIPAA requirements regarding data backup and disaster recovery measures. To handle all these situations, providers are outsourcing.
A percentage of these facilities were let down by vendors that couldn’t execute on their promises. Whether it was a data breach due to improper security measures or a failure to store and transmit medical images as efficiently as the provider had hoped, vendors that fail to meet expectations don’t stay around long.
In the early years of cloud computing, providers were nervous about security, and rightfully so. However, vendors today are able to put forth extremely helpful services that offer some of the most rigorous security measures available. The quality is such that according to HIMSS Analytics, 83 percent are currently using cloud technology. Another nine percent said they had plans to use the cloud and only two percent said they didn’t know if they would ever use the cloud.
Outsourcing offsite storage for the rural hospitals is a good choice when you consider the cost savings and efficiencies. These cloud-based services give rural hospitals the access they need to their counterparts in urban areas where specialists reside and can offer opinions on medical images that reveal underlying causes of medical issues. The more easily these images can be shared, the faster physicians can plan a course of action to remedy the problem.
Patients today are seeking out the assistance of more than just one primary care physician – they’re relying on several physicians to provide the full range of quality care, especially in cases of serious illness. Since many of these physicians practice in separate facilities and have disparate systems, it’s important to partner with a vendor that offers vendor neutral archiving architecture (VNA). With VNA, you’ll never have a problem transmitting medical images and data to the people who need to see it.
For providers looking to lessen the amount of client administration they’re responsible for, taking on a vendor that offers browser agnostic services are paramount. On top of offering VNA and excellent security, browser agnostic service is another checklist item that needs to be addressed as you search for a quality vendor.
OffSite Image Management, Inc., has stepped up to represent the rural providers with all the services required to keep them happy, now and into the future. OffSite’s mission includes bringing a radiology information system of the highest quality with the most reasonable price to rural providers that have limited budgets. We know your physicians and their patients have the same needs as those in urban areas, yet you have fewer resources. Our solution brings you cost savings, but not at the expense of quality.