The Efficiencies in a Cloud Viewer for Exam Management
There was a time not long ago that cloud-based services weren’t trusted, especially in the healthcare community. Those days are long gone, and providers are embracing the cloud for a number of reasons. However, can a cloud viewer for exam management improve productivity while lowering costs? It’s a question that many have today as they look to the future of image management.
Not all patients are going to be within a healthcare provider’s network. For this reason, gaining access to images has traditionally been a process that can be challenging. First, many organizations maintain a practice where they burn images onto a CD and either mail it to other providers or they give it to the patient and have them hand it off during their next appointment. CD burning technology isn’t 100 percent failsafe, and the CDs are often lost or damaged before they make it into the right hands. Going with a cloud-based method is far superior.
A Health Management Technology commentary revealed how one university hospital that delivers specialized care to trauma patients outside of its network used the cloud viewer for exam management solutions to its advantage. With a cloud-based service at the ready, they were able to give referring hospitals access to patient information and images.
“We have found that using the cloud is a secure and cost-effective method for data sharing,” said the organization’s administrative director. “Our organization’s IT specialists thoroughly tested the cloud prior to our adoption to verify that it met our security standards.”
Costs associated with IT technology can be unpredictable, especially if you bring in a new PACS and need to migrate data. Furthermore, using cloud-based technology means there is no hardware or software responsibility on the part of the hospital, which means there is not a massive capital investment required.
The volume of imaging data is only increasing, and at large rates, which is another reason outsourcing image management makes a lot of sense. Autonomy is still important when it comes to owning images, but less so is the autonomy related to hardware. Most hospital organizations are happy to give over upkeep and management of hardware and software to an offsite vendor that manages all those tasks. This allows IT staff at the hospital to focus on other issues.
It’s not all about cost and efficiency though. It’s also about improving patient care, which is what happens when image management is more efficiently handled. At OffSite Image Management, Inc., we have led the industry in providing cost-effective and efficient cloud-based image management services. Our 360-degree solutions can significantly impact hospitals of all sizes. We are also focused on assisting the rural provider, which historically is under funded and under-manned. Our solutions can vastly improve their image management processes while saving them money. Contact us today and let’s talk about how our solutions impact your operation.