The Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) standard has a history dating back to the
early 1980s. If you weren’t a manufacturer of computed tomography or a specialist in magnetic resonance imaging, you probably couldn’t decode images until the DICOM standard was developed. By 1983, the American College of Radiology and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association teamed up to form a standard committee. By 1985, they had agreed on a standard, but it was clear changes would need to be made.
In the decades since that first committee sat down, DICOM has become the foundation of image exchange, so much so that it is often referred to as DICOM image exchange.
For ophthalmologists, accurate data is paramount to successful patient treatment. They have implemented DICOM technology to make their offices more productive. They are able to do this because with DICOM image exchange technology, they can more accurately transmit, print and store images and files. They are also able to more easily edit their images, which can provide the doctors and patients with a clearer image of problem areas of the eyes.
More specifically, utilizing DICOM image exchange technology can help healthcare providers to post-process images with more ability to manipulate pixels, which can help them improve the accuracy of their diagnoses. This means patients will have to undergo fewer examinations, which lowers their cost and improves the rate of recovery. It also helps the radiologists, technicians and doctors get through more cases quicker.
The advantages of DICOM don’t end there; DICOM image exchange technology also allows for bi-directional communication. This is also a huge time saver for clinics because it brings down the time clinicians spend on data entry. Furthermore, any request for medical data can be met with an electronic transmission directly to the patient or to the provider requesting the data.
The magic of DICOM is that it is an electronic medium for storing medical data. When the system the facility has adopted is working smoothly, DICOM image exchange technology helps them retrieve files faster, improves the rate at which they can store and access images and data, and makes for a much more affordable means of image exchanging.
For rural providers, cost is often an issue. Affordable technology is a requirement because nearly everything in these rural environments is a luxury. They are short on staff and money. Offering these critical care facilities quality technology at a reasonable price is the goal of some vendors. With nearly 2,000 critical care facilities across the country, there is an obvious need for solutions that benefit the residents in these remote areas that require the same level of care that residents in bustling cities and larger towns get on a regular basis.
At OffSite Image Management, Inc., we’re focused on bringing the benefits of DICOM technology to the rural areas. We’ve developed a health image exchange solution that allows rural providers the DICOM exchange of radiology data across various vendor platforms, which means you won’t be hit with roadblocks as you attempt to send or receive data from facilities with disparate systems. For more information, contact us today.