August 16, 2016 — Research firm peer60, in a recently published review of healthcare imaging and technology vendors, found that healthcare executives who were asked about their experiences named Agfa HealthCare the No. 1 most recommended image sharing vendor.
To come to this conclusion, peer60 used its Research as a Service (RaaS) platform to conduct extensive research with key leadership among provider organizations across the United States.
Image sharing is an integral part of Agfa HealthCare's Enterprise Imaging solution, enabling caregivers to view, share and exchange many types of medical images. The company's platform solution is designed to empower physicians to make informed decisions through multi-specialty collaboration, helping improve delivery of patient care and streamlining costs.
The report, Medical Imaging Sharing 2016, published by peer60 in June, was released at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) 2016 annual meeting, June 29-July 1 in Portland, Ore. The report reflects the views of more than 350 healthcare providers, from PACS (picture archiving and communication system) administrators, to directors of radiology, to C-suite-level stakeholders from hospitals large and small.
The report recognizes that healthcare has evolved past old technologies such as CDs for medical image sharing, and that newer solutions, such as point-to-point VPNs and cloud-based solutions are popular but are being reconsidered for single-source imaging strategies, especially in the larger hospital market.
In the report, peer60 highlights the value in Agfa's solutions. Notable is that unlimited direct site-to-site sharing lowers legal and financial barriers to image sharing that depends on the cloud. Also, the report noted that Agfa's "viewing-first" strategy for sharing images saves time through direct interaction with the images, and in this way significantly reduces the number of times that the images must be moved. Agfa's technology strategy also saves storage and sharing costs.
In addition, said the report, hospitals have begun to employ the Enterprise Imaging Exchange Suite as part of a merger and acquisition strategy that looks to merging clinical needs ahead of infrastructure needs. This strategy help providers keep patients' continuity of care needs at the forefront.
The report features various use cases and opinions of actors throughout the image sharing chain, providing insight to a new and evolving market. In each, the value and ease-of-use of Agfa HealthCare's solutions is highlighted. Agfa HealthCare's image sharing solution covers use cases from trauma to telemedicine to home health and more. This approach has helped broaden the definition of image sharing with new use cases that were not previously considered.
In trauma, where time is of the essence, Agfa's solution does not require either a cloud or VPN and can get images where they need to be in a matter of seconds. In telemedicine, Agfa's technology can be used to allow patients, caregivers and referring providers to upload images to specialists for consult, either as a second opinion or as a follow-up to a prior visit.
For more information: www.agfahealthcare.com
May 23, 2024 
