DICOM and Data Integrity for Hospitals.

Get Connected to the Right DICOM Solution

Anyone in the healthcare industry can attest to the fact that reform initiatives are forcing more technological changes than ever. IT departments are struggling to meet the budget while also implementing solutions that will hit all compliance needs, especially where medical imaging, sharing and archiving are concerned. However, working within the DICOM standard doesn’t have to be so frustrating.

Many health IT departments today are considered to be cost centers rather than profit centers. The ones that are profitable are managing their revenue cycles and improving cash flows. But they are also more likely to be utilizing solutions that take the bite out of the cost associated with DICOM imaging. For instance, cloud-based PACS solutions are helping to improve data integrity for hospitals.

Healthcare professionals are increasingly hampered by the growth of medical imaging. These are large files that require dedicated servers. Unfortunately, proprietary solutions make a mess of sharing images from department to department or from one hospital to another. The DICOM format is the standard for healthcare images, and it’s not designed to add to the confusion.

Many providers are looking to improve their clinical speeds, and with medical images being large files, getting on top of this speed factor is difficult. DICOM files also include a header and data that is related to the image itself. However, medical professionals not only work with DICOM (.dcm) files, they also see TIFF, GIF, PNG and JPEG files. These later files are fine for PCs, but Windows doesn’t recognize DICOM files, which means unless a facility has the right viewer or the right DICOM browser, they won’t see the image.

Vendor neutral archiving is helping to solve the issues that many PACS have. Cloud-based archiving is also stepping up to deliver solutions at a fraction of the cost many providers see with their proprietary, on-site systems. Practices want to see seamless image storing and archiving capabilities, but they are often not getting that because of the limitations of their PACS. True VNA allows these providers the ability to store and retrieve data from any PACS vendor and migrate between the storage platforms with ease and with transparency.

True VNA supports the most inclusive DICOM query specifications. It also offers context management, which is the ability to manipulate DICOM tags so that it meets the expectations of other PACS vendors. Even the most efficient PACS has its limitations, including the inability to share images with other departments. Changing systems is incredibly expensive and time consuming, which is why cloud-based solutions are becoming so much more popular.

At OffSite Image Management, Inc., we’ve developed a DICOM solution that frees up the worry associated with data integrity. Our solutions are offered with no start up fees, no migration fees and no revolving fees. You will see cost savings up to 60 percent and our solutions are scalable. We work with Level IV data centers and we will not limit your storage. It’s predictable, budget friendly and a better way of handling your medical imaging. Contact us today and find out how we do it.