The Enterprise Imaging Value Proposition

Abstract

As resources in the healthcare environment continue to wane, leaders are seeking ways to continue to provide quality care bounded by the constraints of a reduced budget. This manuscript synthesizes the experience from a number of institutions to provide the healthcare leadership with an understanding of the value of an enterprise imaging program. The value of such a program extends across the entire health system. It leads to operational efficiencies through infrastructure and application consolidation and the creation of focused support capabilities with increased depth of skill. An enterprise imaging program provides a centralized foundation for all phases of image management from every image-producing specialty. Through centralization, standardized image exchange functions can be provided to all image producers. Telehealth services can be more tightly integrated into the electronic medical record. Mobile platforms can be utilized for image viewing and sharing by patients and providers. Mobile tools can also be utilized for image upload directly into the centralized image repository. Governance and data standards are more easily distributed, setting the stage for artificial intelligence and data analytics. Increased exposure to all image producers provides opportunities for cybersecurity optimization and increased awareness.

Enterprise imaging and big data: A review from a medical physics perspective

“…Enterprise imaging solutions have an additional layer of complexity when deployed in a single hospital, across a hospital network, or on a regional or national basis. While the principles of image ingestion, indexing, linking to a report, extraction and viewing are similar in all contexts, aspects such as the wider range of imaging modalities, the size and growth of the archive, and in particular, the indexing becomes more complex as the archive extends its coverage [7,8].…”

“…Operational efficiency is defined as high-quality output for the least amount of input of which cost is a key factor [8]. Lean management and workflow standardization focus on the minutiae of day-to-day operations where cost savings can be made [27].…”

“…One example of this is looking at encounter-based workflows, whereby all imaging studies (regardless of speciality) are represented by a single tab and thus the existence of a study is evident. Modality worklists can aid in automating imaging workflow by reducing manual data entry [8]. A small but significant improvement that is evident with EI is the reduction or elimination of physical media, namely CDs.…”

“…However, accessing the right data to generate the reports, which often drive critical decisions around investments and hiring, may be just as difficult if not more so than accessing patients' data across treatment facilities. An effective EI strategy can decrease the inefficiency of wrangling operational data stored in silos across an enterprise [8]. While this typically requires up-front investment to standardize these data, that process should be part of an effective, well-planned EI implementation.…”

“…Cybersecurity is a major source of concern within any digital healthcare system [8]. Increasingly digitized healthcare environments have led to the health sector becoming a major target for cyberattacks, with a recent SANS Institute report reporting that 94% of health care organizations have been the victim of a cyberattack [41].…”