Secure Image Exchange Now Possible in Seconds, Not Minutes
BOSTON, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- AG Mednet, the world's largest
diagnostic imaging exchange network, today outlined how Marlborough
Hospital has benefited since joining the AG Mednet network 18 months ago.
Marlborough Hospital sought to access a broader range of imaging
capabilities, with a goal to increase the quality and scope of services
offered to patients, while maintaining the highest levels of security and
patient confidentiality. Marlborough Hospital was also looking for an
effective and efficient way to migrate thousands of studies from their
legacy PACS system to their new state of the art environment, a problem
which is generally difficult to solve due to PACS storage incompatibilities
across vendors.
In looking for different solutions, Marlborough Hospital wanted to
avoid traditional time- and cost-intensive approaches, which required steep
learning curves, major IT intervention and purchasing special-purpose
telecom links. The Hospital turned to AG Mednet to meet these distinct
requirements.
A member of UMass Memorial Medical Center, the largest health care
system in Central and Western Massachusetts, Marlborough Hospital treats
approximately 100,000 outpatients between its emergency room and various
diagnostic laboratories and imaging facilities every year. The hospital
contracts with three full-time radiologists, as well as a number of
part-time physicians used to supplement the hospital's available capacity.
Marlborough Hospital underwent a major upgrade its imaging
capabilities, moving to 100 percent digital and updating their PACS. One of
the issues this upgrade presented was the ability to move images in and out
of the facility, particularly important for nighttime teleradiology needs.
Previously, it would take more than 10 minutes to upload images via the
hospital's existing VPN. This was an unacceptable service level for the
hospital, particularly in regard to more sophisticated studies such as
multi-detector CT scans, which are often made up of more than 1,500
separate images.
By utilizing the AG Mednet network, Marlborough Hospital has HIPAA-
compliant secure access to multiple outside institutions that provide them
with emergency radiology coverage and to offsite 3D post-processing of
multi- slice CTs -- just as quickly and effectively as if they were sending
images down the hall. Additionally, AG Mednet enabled the hospital to
migrate studies to their new PACS quickly and easily, overcoming vendor
incompatibilities and enabling the hospital to continue accessing their
historical data in digital form. All of this was accomplished with existing
systems and workflows, with no capital investment required on the
hospital's part.
"What's really revolutionary is the strength and reach of the AG Mednet
infrastructure. The speed and reliability of the network provide us with
significant peace of mind in knowing that our access is continuous and is
being monitored for us 24/7/365," explained Candra Szymanski, RN, chief
operating officer for Marlborough Hospital. "There were no new systems to
learn, minimal IT effort, the elimination of VPNs and no need to purchase
special-purpose telecom links to the facilities we're working with. We went
from a darkroom processor to completely digital and a new PACS in just over
a year. We simply couldn't have accomplished this without AG Mednet."
Women who undergo mammograms at Marlborough Hospital are now benefiting
from the latest diagnostic technology available, digital mammography.
Marlborough Hospital, which began offering digital mammography in late June
2007, is one of only 20 percent of hospitals nationwide offering this
state- of-the-art system.
"It's very gratifying to see the level of results Marlborough Hospital
has experienced from using the AG Mednet network," said Abraham Gutman,
founder and CEO of AG Mednet. "It's a new age in health care when hospitals
such as Marlborough can offer the same state-of-the-art imaging services to
patients that large, urban facilities offer, without making enormous
capital investments. The efficiency and high level of service that
Marlborough hospital strives to offer the community is a testament to the
foresight and commitment of their entire team. We're proud to be
Marlborough Hospital's partner in ensuring they're at the forefront of
imaging technology."
About AG Mednet
AG Mednet is the world's largest diagnostic imaging exchange network.
With AG Mednet, hospitals and diagnostic imaging centers provide the
highest standard of scan interpretation to referring physicians, improving
patient care and service. Radiologists who want to expand their business
benefit from anytime/anywhere access to flawless images. Pharmaceutical,
bio-tech, device and clinical research organizations that utilize imaging
technology now have an automated way to recruit imaging sites and exchange
secure images, reducing time and costs. AG Mednet is headquartered in
Boston and serves the global medical community. For more information call
1-888-9AGMEDNET or visit http://www.agmednet.com.
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