Health Imaging & IT - May 2008 - (Page 42)

speCial seCTion upgrading ris/paCs Divisional Director of IT Pam Atkins stands in the Children’s Health System data center that now includes two EMC Centera content-addressed storage systems that have helped to speed image recall rates for clinicians throughout the system as well as creating a strong data disaster recovery strategy. mary rationale, says Hamer, was the need for speed. syngo Imaging provides a more direct—and faster—server environment. Unlike MagicStore, which is based on a distributed workflow that sends data from modality acquisition devices to servers to the archive, syngo Imaging is based on a central server model with a direct connection between modalities and the archive. The direct connection virtually eliminates wait time for even the most data-heavy studies. The direct connection between modality devices and the archive represent one means of increasing speed. syngo Imaging also boosts the speed of the central server model by enabling a state-of-the-art storage solution. At Children’s Health, MagicStore was tied to the tape archive, which does not provide optimal image retrieval, particularly with large datasets. “Radiologists felt the tape archive slowed image review,” explains PACS Administrator Lynn Odom. “At times, it took six to eight minutes to load a 64-slice CT exam with priors. Ultimately, this effects dictation, report turnaround and even length of stay.” The syngo Imaging/EMC Centera combination offers a new model. The EMC Centera active AdvAnced StorAge deliverS Radiology is a high-tech business. The amount of technology in any radiology department is impressive. And although advanced technology, like 64-slice CT, is a boon to radiology, it also is a burden because new modalities produce exponentially larger datasets. Storing those large datasets is a hefty undertaking. Conventional storage solutions like tape libraries no longer fit the bill for many radiology departments. The problems with tape-based archives and radiology are multiple and entrenched. Tape is slow, prone to glitches and not easily scaled. Advanced information infrastructure solutions, consisting of EMC CLARiiON CX series storage for current studies and EMC Centera active archiving storage solutions for records retention offer a new (and significantly improved) model. In contrast to tape archives, EMC Centera is lightening fast, reliable and scaleable. Children’s Health System and its flagship Children’s Hospital of Alabama, replaced their nearly full tape library with a pair of EMC Centera active archiving storage systems early in 2008 during a transition to Siemens syngo Suite integrated RIS/PACS solution. “EMC Centera is an ideal storage solution for the hospital,” says PACS Administrator Lynn Odom. One inherent, seemingly unsolvable problem with the previous system, a tape library, was historical image review. In the pediatric imaging environment, it is not uncommon for physicians to require historical images on a moment’s notice. In these cases, technologists have no time to pre-fetch data, so the radiologist often takes on the task. As Children’s tape archive filled, it took The exponentially large data sets from newly deployed 64-slice CT scanners were the tipping point for the decision to deploy a new information infrastructure plan at Children’s Health System, says PACS Administrator lynn Odom. more time to recall prior images. “It might take six minutes or longer to recall prior images,” says Odom. EMC Centera significantly improves the image recall rate. A simple 2 Health Imaging & IT | May 2008 HealthImaging.com http://HealthImaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT - May 2008

Health Imaging & IT - May 2008 Contents On the Web The Enterprise News Update Convention Spotlight: SIIM 2008 Healthcare IT Salary Survey Survey Findings Inside the Transition to Next-Generation Image Management Blurring the Lines: Interfaced vs. Integrated RIS/PACS The Insider's Primer: Taming the Workflow Beast - Five Facilities Tell How Availability, Applications Drive New Archive Strategies Modality Review Managing Technology Inside Technology Reader's Resource Stat Sheet

Health Imaging & IT - May 2008

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