Data Storage 1Despite its critics and some healthcare IT workers still holding on to their legacy systems, vendor neutral archives (VNA) are fast gaining ground in the healthcare industry.

The fact that healthcare providers share information on a daily basis is what’s driving the growth of the VNA market to the tune of more than $200 million in the next four years. Radiology information systems are certainly a part of that growth arc as a good amount of the data being shared includes medical imaging.

Picture archiving communication systems (PACS) have the lion’s share of the market at the moment, but many healthcare providers are asking more from their PACS than it can actually deliver, which is where the VNA for radiology information systems comes into play. According to BridgeHead Software’s study from 2012, nearly 20 percent of hospitals in America were planning on bringing a VNA into the mix by this year while a third of them already had.

The obvious advantage of choosing a VNA is that it can work with a variety of data types, including images, without having to use the same software and/or hardware as the institution sending the information. As you’ve realized with the data in your hospital, your archives include a variety of data that comes from a multitude of organizations. Without a VNA, you’ll see roadblocks in many cases as the information gets befuddled between disparate systems.

When you bring a VNA solution into your organization you’ll have the ability to differentiate your layer of imaging information from the archiving information, which is what allows you to share your information with essentially anyone.

What you’re probably doing without a VNA is having your PACS vendor oversee all of your importing tasks. You’ve realized that this is a process that costs you too much money and takes too much time. As more images need to be shared between more entities, this system is showing its flaws, which is why the talk about VNA has been so pervasive as of late.

Also driving the ubiquity of the VNA is the Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirement that involves electronic health records and how they are shared. Radiology information systems are part of this requirement as images are included in the electronic health records. With the standard for medical imaging being the DICOM, problems occur because DICOM isn’t exactly specific regarding metadata fields, which help to annotate objects. Because of this, there are varying interpretations of metadata between vendors, causing the obvious issues with compatibility.

Some vendors are even getting creative with what they consider VNA, which has prompted the push to identify actual VNA by referring to it as “true” VNA.

If you’re looking for a true VNA solution, look no further than OffSite Image Management, Inc. We have built our solution to meet all the requirements of a true VNA, including the ability to store the complete suite of DICOM SOP classes. Our solution can store all objects in a non-proprietary format. Call us today and get started on a true VNA experience.