DICOM: The Standard That Levels the Playing Field
This past couple of decades plus have been some of the most exciting and challenging for radiologists who have to try hard to keep up with the technology. Now there is a huge push for data mobility, especially with medical imaging. What role will DICOM play in the evolution of medical imaging?
DICOM, as all healthcare IT professionals know, is a standard that includes file format definitions and network communications protocols that allow disparate systems to communicate. Workstations, scanner, network hardware, scanners and other medical imaging devices are all enabled through DICOM. Fortunately, working with DICOM images (manipulating them) is becoming easier.
Since technology around radiology is constantly evolving, interoperability becomes quite integral to the success of any radiology department. For instance, the DICOM standards have helped radiology’s playing field to remain level, regardless if you’re a huge hospital group or a tiny rural provider.
Many of the data-sharing obstacles as it relates to medical imaging usually involve interoperability issues and workflow, but compliance is also a factor. One of the reasons for this is that data is often an island where data silos are concerned. Imaging silos, for instance, often limit the level of care a doctor can provide due to the way they are built.
Cloud-based vendors are offering solutions that include working with the DICOM standard. For instance, the best vendors are utilizing vendor neutral archiving (VNA) technology that makes it easier to capture metadata that allows for easier tagging of images. This has become a popular technology for a variety of cloud-based organizations who utilize VNA as the backbone for some great features for medical imaging solutions.
Even when the data is released from the silo, there can still be issues. Teleradiology, for example, often leaves the provider feeling out of touch with their medical images. They send them out, seemingly into a vast void, and have no idea where it is in the process because there is no accountability. Should a patient exam suddenly become a priority, there is often no way to change that priority.
Fortunately, there are vendors working to provide more accountability, which is found in cloud-based teleradiology solutions, such as OffSite Image Management’s Telrad360, which offers full visibility in every exam at every step of the process.
OffSite Image Management, Inc., has developed solutions that follow DICOM standards, but we’re also helping clients with their non-DICOM data, including HL7. Contact us today and let’s talk about you can use DICOM to help radiology thrive.