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Better management of X-ray radiation doses starts with recording and tracking each exposure patients receive. Dose tracking has come to the forefront of medicine in recent years with the realization that medical imaging has doubled the public’s exposure to ionizing radiation since the 1980s, largely due to the rapid expansion of computed tomography (CT) and minimally invasive angiography procedures.
Agfa HealthCare teamed with Dell to integrate Agfa’s ICIS platform with Dell Drive Plus to offer medical image management within an Epic or other electronic health record (EHR). Highlighted in conjunction with the HIMSS 2014 annual conference, the collaboration is part of Agfa HealthCare’s and Dell’s focus to streamline customer workflows by providing easily integrated enhancements for the EHR, including seamless access to medical images within a patient’s electronic health record.
Agfa HealthCare unveiled enhancements to its ICIS at the 2014 annual meeting of the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Several industries have used cloud solutions for many years, but cloud computing only recently started to be used in healthcare. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), cloud computing is defined as “a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”1 As more and more healthcare organizations (HCOs) adopt electronic medical records (EMRs), the cloud database has offered an efficient solution for image sharing, particularly in radiology where it is bridging the gap between referring physicians and radiologists.
Digital radiography (DR) has become a mainstay within many hospitals and radiology practices. The increased adoption of DR can be attributed to X-ray vendors dropping their prices, as well as the introduction of wireless DR, which offers more flexibility and improved workflow than fixed-plate DR. Now, many radiologists are opting to invest in DR systems rather than retrofit older computed radiography (CR) systems. While companies such as Samsung are just entering the DR market with new introductions, the focus today is not as much on introduction as it is on refinement. From smaller and lighter detectors for specific applications, to the development of features for dose monitoring and recording, DR is evolving to become more efficient for radiologists.
Agfa HealthCare announced the first two U.S. sales of Impax Agility, a brand new imaging platform that unifies the functionalities provided by traditionally disparate radiology information system (RIS), picture archiving and communication system (PACS), reporting, 3-D, connectivity and clinical applications.
Agfa HealthCare, a provider of enterprise clinical imaging and IT solutions, announced the installation of two DX-D 400 direct radiology (DR) systems at WellStar Health System, a not-for-profit healthcare organization comprised of five hospitals and 11 imaging centers.
Agfa HealthCare announced that it is launching the next generation of its MUSICA (Multi-Scale Image Contrast Amplification) image processing software with new technology improvements that enhance both image quality and workflow for radiographers and radiologists at the upcoming Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting (RSNA 2013) in Chicago.
Upgrading its technology was a big decision for US Signature HealthCare in Brockton, Mass. The oldest and largest in-patient hospital within its area, its ambitious upgrade program covered a lot of goals; including offering digital imaging in the emergency room and providing more tools to the people making time-sensitive clinical decisions. In rigorous field trials, one solution stood out, offering not only the specifications the hospital wanted but also visibly different image quality: the Agfa HealthCare DX-D 100. And that was just the start!
The Agfa Impax Agility picture archive and communication system (PACS) is a departmental imaging platform designed to improve productivity, reduce cost and facilitate quality outcomes. This comprehensive solution redesigns capabilities typically found in a radiology information system (RIS), multi-department PACS, voice recognition reporting and connectivity into a single system.