Enterprise Imaging

Enterprise imaging brings together all imaging exams, patient data and reports from across a healthcare system into one location to aid efficiency and economy of scale for data storage. This enables immediate access to images and reports any clinical user of the electronic medical record (EMR) across a healthcare system, regardless of location. Enterprise imaging (EI) systems replace the former system of using a variety of disparate, siloed picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), radiology information systems (RIS), and a variety of separate, dedicated workstations and logins to view or post-process different imaging modalities. Often these siloed systems cannot interoperate and cannot easily be connected. Web-based EI systems are becoming the standard across most healthcare systems to incorporate not only radiology, but also cardiology (CVIS), pathology and dozens of other departments to centralize all patient data into one cloud-based data storage and data management system.

Press Ganey acquires Quality Indicator Project

Press Ganey Associates has acquired the Maryland Hospital Association's Quality Indicator (QI) Project division for an undisclosed amount.

eRad lands Southeast PACS install

Cherryhill Radiology in Jackson, Tenn., has gone live with eRads PACS.

NovaRad scores Midwest PACS contract

Lincoln Medical Education Partnership in Lincoln, Neb., has selected PACS from NovaRad.

UPenn selects ThinAirs TeleRIS

The department of community radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) has selected ThinAir Datas TeleRIS to provide its unified worklist.

Vanguard to purchase Arizona Heart Institute

Under a definitive purchasing agreement, Phoenix-based Abrazo Health Care, a subsidiary of Vanguard Health Systems, will purchase the Arizona Heart Institute, an independent cardiovascular physician practice.

Philips buys Israeli PACS developer

Royal Philips Electronics has agreed to acquire the business of CDP Medical, a Petah Tikva, Israel-based developer of PACS and a subsidiary of medical device distributor Medtechnica.

Georgia hospital selects Digisonics cardiology management system

Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia, Ga., has installed Digisonics image management and structured reporting system for cardiology, the DigiView CVIS/PACS.

ScImage integrates PACS with Philips' ultrasound technology

ScImage has upgraded its PACS, PicomEnterprise PACS, now offering integration to Philips Healthcares QLAB 2D and 3D ultrasound image processing software.

Around the web

Positron, a New York-based nuclear imaging company, will now provide Upbeat Cardiology Solutions with advanced PET/CT systems and services. 

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.