Government mandates are making the task of processing patient information more complex,
especially for understaffed and budget-challenged facilities. With Stage 2 of Meaningful Use ramping up, additional pressures are mounting as healthcare providers struggle to hit deadlines.
The challenge that many IT teams are facing is the fact that their systems weren’t built to support working with disparate systems, even if it’s just from department to department. More and more providers are expected to be able to transfer information from hospital to hospital so patients can receive the care they need from different providers. Vendor neutral archiving is stepping up to help them meet these challenges.
Many providers are in a situation where they can’t offer the ability to view, access and distribute patient data across disparate sources. Too much patient data is located on various “data islands,” which means PACS-based images are inaccessible. For radiologists to comply with Stage 2 requirements, this is a situation that has to be remedied.
What’s apparent now is that technology remains the same within these facilities, productivity will continue to decline, as will the quality care that patients expect. Today, care is sought through multiple providers, which is a departure from the past when patients received the bulk of their care from just one or two doctors and/or specialists. What many healthcare providers’ IT teams are realizing now is that the solution will be in vendor neutral archiving solutions, which should include medical images.
Many PACS solutions used today are being pushed to their limits and shouldn’t be expected to perform to the Stage 2 standards. However, a completely new implementation of a PACS is too expensive and time consuming for most providers to undertake. Again, vendor neutral archiving solutions can step in to alleviate the pressure. Facilities looking for an electronic medical record solution that includes image-enabled processes, the vendor neutral archiving solution is one that delivers.
Unfortunately, there is a bit of confusion in regards to what true vendor neutral archiving really is. Some vendors offering PACS enterprise archive solutions are mislabeling their solutions as vendor neutral, which is the source of a great deal of the confusion. True vendor neutral archiving involves a system that can accept data and allows you to view images regardless of where it originated or what type of system you currently run.
If your solution is truly vendor neutral, you’ll have proven processes and tools that allow you to integrate and migrate data to or from any PACS. Furthermore, your truly independent vendor neutral archiving should include tag morphing features, ILM policies for distribution and independent storage support.
At OffSite Image Management, vendor neutral archiving solutions are the real deal. Our clients are able to communicate their patient data seamlessly across disparate systems. If your facility is a victim of the mislabeled solutions on the market today, you can find a quality product with OffSite solutions. Contact us today for more information.