Modern healthcare providers are struggling to manage the exponential growth and increased complexity of digital patient information, often referred to as “Big Data,” across different organizations, applications, and data silos. To answer this problem, Offsite Image Management Inc. uses its vendor neutral archiving (VNA) technology to send and accept data, regardless of which image management system is used – and for a short time, this service is available in Kansas with an open enrollment period.
Recently, the Kansas Health Image Exchange (KHIE) announced an open enrollment period, waiving start-up fees for hospitals and clinics who request Virtual CD technology from August 1, 2014 until September 30, 2014.
Modern healthcare providers are struggling to manage the exponential growth and increased complexity of digital patient information, often referred to as “Big Data,” across different organizations, applications, and data silos.
Traditional health IT solutions, including picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), continue to manage and store patient information using exclusive formats, despite the availability of standard formatting options. Thus, sharing patient information within and beyond their specific boundaries can seem impossible.
To answer this problem, Offsite Image Management Inc. uses its vendor neutral archiving (VNA) and Honeycomb technology to send and accept data, regardless of which PACS or image management system they are using. This technology allows patients and healthcare professionals to seamlessly share radiology images beyond formatting boundaries. This means that for the first time, radiology images are available through a cloud-based secure URL – and users simply pay per upload; which means a single upload could include a single patient or multiple exams.
“Not only does the launch of the KHIE solve serious image-sharing problems, it also means rural hospitals who play a major role in bringing healthcare services to residents, can do so more efficiently and effectively,” says Lasha Dalakishvilli, President, Offsite Image Management. “Offsite is closer to allowing patients to access and control their own healthcare data.”
Patients and professionals get complete control of patient images, to view and share anywhere, anytime, and on a variety of devices with Internet capabilities. KHIE offers a Virtual CD service as part of a dedicated health image exchange option that all healthcare providers in Kansas can utilize.
Virtual CD is a federated and non-membership based solution that allows hospitals 100 percent control over who they share their data with such as patients, physicians or other hospitals. There is also no need for special software or hardware, as everything can be accessed with an Internet connection.
This technology reduces costs, while expensive and cumbersome CDs are replaced with an economical and efficient Virtual CD. The CD essentially replaces the current CD burning process with a custom URL. This encrypted and password protected URL can be simply printed out or emailed to a patient or another provider. In addition, the provider has the option of either viewing the exam’s in the cloud, downloading them into their PACS, or even printing them if needed.
Offsite is already working with rural hospitals and clinics across several states, including Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana, and Michigan, to implement Virtual CDs for image sharing and continues to see costs decline for these hospitals as levels of staff and patient satisfaction increase. The KHIE also reduces the redundancies that every healthcare provider strives to avoid, such as malfunctioning CDs, lost data, and radiation exposure related to repeat exams – contributing toward a more effective patient treatment outcome.
All Virtual CD start-up fees have been waived from August 1 until September 30 in the KHIE. During this period, anyone in the state of Kansas has the opportunity to join this network and have their health records available anytime and anywhere, so that there is never a delay in getting a critical diagnosis. Offsite believes that access and sharing data should not be limited to memberships, hosts or any other variables.
Visit http://www.kansas-hie.com/ to request a Virtual CD from Offsite Imaging Management Inc.
About Offsite Imaging Management Inc.:
With more than 70 million images archived to date, Offsite is quickly becoming one of the nation’s leaders in vendor neutral image sharing for healthcare facilities. To learn more about the image exchange and services offered by Offsite, visit https://offsiteimagemgt.com/, http://www.kansas-hie.com or http://www.missouri-hie.com.