Agfa HealthCare selected as primary project integrator for major, province-wide diagnostic imaging repository
Hospital Diagnostic Imaging Repository Services, Ontario, Canada
Project involves installing multiple IMPAX PACS technology at select sites to import, store and distribute digital imaging between 23 hospitals throughout Ontario.
In a major coordinated effort, the Canadian and Ontario Provincial governments are working with 23 public hospitals in the province's central and southern regions to establish a Diagnostic Imaging Repository to import, store and distribute all digital imaging and reports between these facilities. It is an important undertaking in one of this country's most populous regions. Agfa HealthCare and its IMPAX™ Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) featuring open architecture and a well-established reputation to seamlessly interface with numerous outside imaging platforms and programs, has been selected by the project review teams to form the digital backbone of this effort.
A major transformation in health services
In a world where a web search engine can deliver thousands of pages of high-quality pictures and
information in seconds, it has today become quite acceptable for hospitals and physicians to
transmit medical data and imaging across the street or around the world using digital technology.
This is especially important in the 21st century where an aging and rapidly growing population
demands faster and more efficient services from its national healthcare system.
As a result Canada Health Infoway was established in 2001 to fund and accelerate the implementation of reliable and secure health information systems, leading to the eventual goal of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) for every Canadian.
This initiative helped in the establishment three years ago of TEN, the Toronto East Network, a joint project commissioned by a voluntary consortium of 23 public hospital corporations spanning central and southern regions of Ontario. Together, TEN hospitals perform 2.6 million diagnostic exams, with roughly 73 percent archived electronically by PACS at most member facilities.
In 2005, TEN launched the initial phase of a three phase effort to establish a centralized, diagnostic imaging repository to store and share all images and reports from the 23 member hospitals. This was conducted in voluntary collaboration with the participating hospital partners, Canada Health Infoway and the Ontario e-Health Program Office.
Needed was a vendor to provide PACS to a few of the 23 hospitals that had not yet moved to a
filmless, digital environment, as well as a redundant backup facility 50 kilometers from the main storage site. A request for proposal (RFP) was solicited among various vendors to support what is now called HDIRS, or Hospital Diagnostic Imaging Repository Services.
Breaking new ground
"Nothing of this scale had ever been attempted before," says Dennis Rankin, HDIRS Project Advisor. "While other provinces and health corporations have implemented similar systems, ours was one of the most complex in the number of hospitals and vendors involved, as well as the quantity of both clinical professionals and patients served."
He explains: "Basically, the HDIRS service will allow physicians at any member hospital to see a patient's full radiological history in high, diagnostic-quality resolution, regardless of which facility the images were acquired and report transcribed. Oversight of the repository's daily technical, integration and 24/7 availability aspects were required, along with backup support in case of disaster, and scalability to easily add new sites or technologies as they evolve."
Overall goals of the PACS Integration selection process for HDIRS included:
- Integrating multiple-PACS systems and processes from different suppliers across the 23 hospitals.
- Enhancing patient care through faster, easier image access at point-of-care or wherever continuing care is required.
- Capacity to grow so new sites can be easily added.
- Immediate and effective backup/disaster recovery provisions.
- Reduce patient transfer and wait times.
- Cost benefi ts from pricing advantages for storage and disaster
recovery elements. - High level of service, security and privacy.
- Ability of radiologists to share workloads across the region.
- Lower retake rates by 15 percent.
- Helping to reduce overall medical errors through access to
more information.
Initial study by the review teams of multiple, written responses to the RFP resulted in a short list of four suppliers. This was followed by a vendor fair, where each company set up exhibits and conducted educational sessions on their various technologies and solutions. Upwards of 200 staff from the 23 hospitals attended and participated in this unique exhibit effort. Site visits by select hospital staff to see vendor technologies performing in situ soon followed. Rankin recalls: "It was an exhaustively thorough process."
Technology and experience among key selection factors
Agfa HealthCare was chosen by Infoway, TEN and HDIRS to supply the technology and management oversight for the repository that met the team's stated goals. The company also was selected to install its IMPAX PACS with 6.3 Version software at those member hospitals still working with hardcopy imaging.
The evaluation team strongly felt that from a technology perspective, Agfa HealthCare convincingly demonstrated that its solutions were highly stable, reliable and interoperable with the various PACS from other suppliers at member hospitals, as well as a multitude of disparate radiology information systems (RIS) and voice recognition products.
"This harmonized with a key expectation of our review teams who felt that a complex implementation like this required a supplier with a great deal of experience and flexibility in architecting diagnostic imaging repository solutions," Rankin says.
Other attributes cited include the technological capability to manage extremely large data sets at peak usage without slowing down or compromising image accuracy, a particularly important attribute when handling imaging from more than 2.6 million exams annually. A strong Agfa HealthCare commitment and presence in Ontario also was considered, meaning much of the installation, cutover and ongoing service work would be performed locally.
The company's excellent service contracts and support for current and future cardiology and mammography applications also were key considerations. IMPAX pricing was highly competitive. Finally, many were impressed with how Agfa HealthCare handled the various challenges, deadlines and last-minute changes of each step of the review procedure.
Proven solutions advance health data accessibility
Under Agfa HealthCare's oversight, the equipment required for the primary HDIRS site is currently being delivered and installed, with clinical adoption starting in early 2008 and full implementationexpected later that year. IMPAX PACS installations at the selected hospitals also are underway.
"It's a considerable achievement both technologically, as well as in voluntarily bringing so many people and institutions together for the common goal of dramatically improving access to vital health information," concludes Rankin.
Solution boxes
IMPAX RIS/PACS
- Efficient, seamless interface with wide range of non Agfa HealthCare imaging support systems.
- Compatibility with disparate RIS, Voice Recognition, Scheduling, Reporting software.
- Proven, trouble-free, dependable platform.
- Handles large data bursts at peak usage without lockup or delay
Agfa HealthCare's contribution
- IMPAX Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) that optimizes the sharing, management and digital storage of images/information from any digital imaging modality.
Did you know...
- 35 million diagnostic images are generated each year throughout the Canadian health care system.
- Large regional and provincial projects are common in the Canadian marketplace. In addition to the HDIRS PACS project, Agfa HealthCare is currently involved in provincial IMPAX implementations in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Alberta and large-scale regional implementations in Quebec and northern Ontario.
- Projects like HDIRS help these smaller hospitals and imaging centers share in the benefits of PACS and digital radiology platforms enjoyed by larger facilities.
Quotes
- "The HDIRS project is one of the most complex in the number of hospitals
involved and quantity of both clinical professionals and patients served." Dennis Rankin, HDIRS Project Advisor, Hospital Diagnostic Imaging Repository Services, Ontario, Canada - "It's a considerable achievement both technologically, as well as in voluntarily bringing so many people and institutions together for the common goal of dramatically improving access to vital health information." Dennis Rankin, HDIRS Project Leader, Hospital Diagnostic Imaging Repository Services, Ontario, Canada