The Benefits of VNA Technology Through the Cloud
There has been a lot of focus on unifying diagnostic imaging processes in the last few years. The go-to technology to achieve this has been vendor neutral archiving applications (VNA). VNA is still the best choice today, but if you are considering a traditional onsite solution, it is time to take a look at a cloud-based solution. The benefits to moving your VNA to the cloud are many.
Here’s one way to look at the difference between an onsite VNA solution and a cloud-based one: Do you like to take cruises? If so, does that mean you will look into buying a cruise ship? Probably not. That would be very expensive, and you likely wouldn’t have the time or expertise to keep the ship in working order. The same could be said for imaging applications – do you want to buy an onsite solution that is costly and will require a large amount of time from your workforce? Or go with an offsite VNA solution that leaves the maintenance to a cloud-based vendor, who will also be responsible for the servers that house the technology.
Hospitals and outpatient imaging facilities today that move to the cloud are saving money, improving workflows and increasing patient satisfaction. Some imaging specialists and radiologists fear that they will lose control of their images if they are stored offsite, however, they are not giving up their independence or becoming overly dependent on others. They are however gaining increased accessibility.
Cloud-based VNA applications are touted as giving clients the accessibility that their PACS have denied them for a long time. Even from department to department, PACS can fail to communicate. As a healthcare provider, when you take on a cloud-based solution, you are able to send images and data to whomever you need.
Functionality is the key to bringing more value to the imaging process. Archiving services assist you in processing data and analytics platforms that can be used for business intelligence, which also leads to quality improvements in many areas of the day-to-day operations. And because archiving as a service can be done on a per-study basis, you won’t lose money on storage you aren’t using.
Bringing new technology into the mix can be an intimidating process for some IT teams, especially in rural areas where resources are limited. This is another reason to seek out cloud-based archiving services. Not only are there no servers to purchase and make room for onsite, there is nothing to update, maintain or fix – all of that is left up to the vendor.
OffSite Image Management, Inc. has set the pace for cloud-based VNA services, archiving and management of medical images. Our 360-degree solutions have made us a leader in the industry, and we can help you regardless of your size or location. We use Level IV datacenters to ensure that your images will be available to you, 24/7/365. Furthermore, our hands-on method of providing services means that if you ever have a problem, we’re there to help you.