New Orleans, LA – March 5, 2013 – Vendor Neutral Archiving (VNA) technology can be an effective tool for meeting data management and accessibility objectives, according to a new report written by independent healthcare imaging technology expert Joe Marion, principal of Healthcare Integration Strategies. Now available for download from BridgeHead Software’s website, the “Understanding the Vendor Neutral Archive” report discusses the real-world capabilities of a VNA and the potential for even greater benefits when it is used to manage unstructured hospital data alongside images.
Historically, medical image storage has been under the control of individual Picture Archive and Communications System (PACS) applications, requiring management of that data to be completely reliant upon system functionality. PACS can, in effect, also create multiple silos of data within a healthcare facility should different PACS applications be used in different departments. Additionally, associated files, such as scanned patient documents, clinical reports and general office files, have been managed separately, either through commercial document management solutions or home-grown applications, further segregating data.
As the industry evolved, due to standards such as Digital Imaging and Communications (DICOM), PACS applications were able to offer better interoperability capabilities. Unfortunately, not all content conforms to the DICOM standard, such as non-DICOM images and unstructured files. For example, scanned or photographic images may adhere to TIF or BMP formats rather than DICOM. And even some DICOM files contain custom, private tags that are not universally understood. Therefore, complete solutions were needed to address both DICOM as well as non-DICOM content.
Healthcare facilities have now begun to deploy Vendor Neutral Archive technology to consolidate image archive and data accessibility. Moving to a VNA can reduce migration costs and avoid the proprietary data storage often found in PACS applications, making information more accessible. Facilities can also realize economies of scale through better utilization of storage infrastructure and the lowering of operational and maintenance costs. An added advantage of centrally handling data is greater opportunity to apply retention rules and to address data integrity, disaster recovery and business continuity objectives.
“A VNA approach that offers immediate and long-term benefits can minimize time and expense, while improving clinical data accessibility,” said Joe Marion, principal of Healthcare Integration Strategies, LLC. “BridgeHead’s extensive knowledge of data integrity and protection, as well as its experience with a broad array of structured and unstructured data, allow the company to provide complete VNA solutions that will continue to address both clinical and IT requirements for years to come.”
BridgeHead Software’s approach to VNA enables all types of hospital data to be stored, protected, and shared. The file-level protection that BridgeHead provides is a vital building block in its Healthcare Data Management (HDM) Solution, designed to ‘Bridge the Gap’ between what clinicians want for assured image availability and IT professionals need for data management. It is also the only software that combines image protection together with DICOM and non-DICOM archiving, ensuring complete data availability for healthcare professionals.
“It’s no secret that healthcare data is growing at a phenomenal rate, as many studies have shown. This has primarily occurred through the advances in digital imaging from pioneering modalities as well as the ongoing introduction of new software applications. The challenge, with regards to medical image data, is that it doesn’t all adhere to standard formats such as DICOM. Many systems use proprietary file types, while others use TIFF, JPG and the like,” said Jim Beagle, CEO of BridgeHead Software. “Our vision at BridgeHead is to support the drive for improved clinical care by storing all of a hospital’s data; protecting it from misuse, loss and disaster; and enabling that data to be shared back to individuals or systems to those that need it, when they need it. In doing so, we believe we can help reduce the cost of managing data. This is significant in a time where most organizations are under extreme pressure to reduce the overall cost of healthcare provision.”
Marion presented the concepts detailed in the “Understanding the Vendor Neutral Archive” paper along with Charles Mallio from NetApp and Tim Kaschinske from BridgeHead Software during the recent “Enterprise Data Archive in Hospital Environments: How VNA Can Bridge the Gaps in Data Availability” webinar. Listen now online.
INFORMATION FOR MEDIA ATTENDING HIMSS13
BridgeHead Software is exhibiting at this week’s HIMSS13 Conference in booth 1769, taking place from March 3rd through March 7th at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA.
