May 13
2019
Enterprise Imaging Insights: Top Minds Share Their Perspectives
By Ken Congdon, content marketing manager, Hyland Healthcare.
Each year, Hyland Healthcare conducts focus groups with HIMSS members representing top healthcare provider organizations. The interactive, in-depth discussions always reveal powerful insights we can use to improve our solutions.
This year’s topic was enterprise imaging. We wanted to gain a better understanding of the drivers, strategies, challenges and desires healthcare leaders have in this area.
Healthcare evolution, innovation boost enterprise imaging demand
Consensus from the group seemed to indicate that the evolution of healthcare in general is driving the demand for enterprise imaging. For example, increased consolidation, partner collaboration and merger and acquisition activity are creating imaging environments that are complex and extremely difficult to manage. It becomes problematic, expensive and risky to attempt to manage and maintain multiple silos of imaging data throughout all of these locations.
“The acquisition of outpatient imaging centers combined with the disparate imaging silos we already have internally creates a lot of waste,” said Peter Overeem, CTO of Adventist Healthcare. “Several efficiencies can be gained by bringing all our images — both inpatient and outpatient — together into one consolidated system.”
Furthermore, it was agreed upon that PACS is a dated technology that is centered on radiology and cardiology, and likely not the best equipped to handle the centralized management of images throughout an enterprise.
“With the advancement of AI, we need to start adopting enterprise tools,” said Michael Knopp, MD, professor and director at Ohio State University. “We can’t maintain an environment where everyone has their own departmental solution. PACS vendors are focused on specific niches and are fairly slow to add new innovations that benefit the enterprise. The solutions you implement today need to be capable of adapting and innovating at a much faster pace.”
One-size does not always fit all
The demand for enterprise imaging tools was clear from the group. However, participants also communicated several challenges and roadblocks when it comes to implementing solutions that satisfy the needs of all the stakeholders involved.
“We can’t get the different imaging-centric departments to agree on one technology platform that meets everyone’s needs,” said Overeem. “What one person likes, another hates. We’re concerned about implementing an enterprise solution that causes some departments to settle for a less optimal solution for their specialty.”