The segue from film to digital images has greatly affected the ability of healthcare providers to provide better quality care to their patients, mostly because of the quickness with which the images can be transported. However, not all DICOMs and picture archiving systems (PACS) are made equally.
When providers started using PACS, most of them were fairly impressed with its ability to store and organize images. However, over time, healthcare providers started expecting more out of their PACS than what it could deliver. For providers with underpowered PACS, the move to a Honeycomb-powered PACS makes sense.
Honeycomb is a layer of software that lets disparate digital silos communicate without any kind of technological language barrier. Let’s look at three ways that the Honeycomb can positively impact your ability to provide better care.
1. Very few patients rely on only one doctor or specialist to provide them the quality care they expect out of the healthcare industry today. Therefore, every healthcare provider needs to have the ability to share medical imaging with providers outside of their group. Most hospitals and clinics use different hardware and software, which means the link between them, needs to be vendor neutral. Honeycomb provides that link.
2. Secure DICOM exchanges are in more need now than ever, especially considering the amount of rules and regulations healthcare providers have to live by. Penalties for falling out of line can cripple a provider, especially a smaller institution that has fewer resources. Another aspect that has impacted the need for DICOM exchanges is the growth of digital imaging. Many DICOM exchanges have failed to meet the needs of healthcare providers wanting to store and share their medical images. However, providers who have Honeycomb on their side are able to provide better quality care due to the robust architecture and sharing capabilities that make Honeycomb what it is.
3. True vendor neutral archiving is another advantage that the Honeycomb has over other DICOM and PACS solutions. Vendor neutral archiving allows you to reduce the number of bottlenecks you experience, as well as the over-inflated costs associated with non-vendor neutral systems. Vendor neutral archiving is all about ease of use. One of the biggest benefits users get out of the vendor neutral process is the ability to push stored data to other PACS, which is an increasingly valuable tool to have at your disposal today considering the number of patients who have multiple points of care.
OffSite Image Management, Inc., uses the Honeycomb to offer healthcare providers, especially those in the rural areas, a full functioning, secure, vendor neutral solution that offers quality without all the costs associated with similar products. OffSite actually has a focus on the rural community as its founders have a background working in these areas. In fact, the experts at OffSite are radiology and IT professionals who know the needs of providers and have built solutions around those needs.