VISUS - Enterprise PACS Solutions

 

VISUS is a leading supplier of image management solutions for hospitals and practices. In the year 2000 VISUS was established as technology-spin-off of the University Witten / Herdecke. Today the company in Bochum is able to refer to over 750 installations worldwide, 450 of it in Germany. Founded on comprehensive know how about DICOM standardization and applied internet technologies, VISUS developed into a leading supplier for innovative intricate image management solutions in medicine. The range of application of the product family JiveX varies from PACS department solutions for miscellaneous medical disciplines to inter - divisional Enterprise PACS with teleradiology to the intricate cross - site network solution with data processing service center operations. 

JiveX Enterprise PACS Solutions

In times of DRGs and continually increasing cost pressure, PACS solutions have reinforced to be conceived as universal overall solutions and to display the whole image management of a hospital or even a hospital group. Only then they are able to cope with the aim to integrate the whole diagnostics in one consistent patient record. So then they contribute to the reduction of finding times as well as length of hospital stay and help to increase quality in patient care through optimized communication.

 

JiveX allows realizing such holistic solutions without neglecting the special requirements of single specialty departments. The concept consists in supplying all important applications with a universal platform based on modern web technology at each work station in the house. This platform carries out the whole logistics from image acquisition to image and finding distribution with digital finding to radiogram finding and image archiving.

 

The organization units in health care have become bigger today. Not only single hospitals are acting but also more and more networks with increased requirements to image distribution and archiving. The Enterprise PACS solution takes on this approach in which external clinical partners - practices, hospitals and specialist clinics or similar - are firmly integrated into the own workflow and in doing so benefit from all advantages of a quick image and finding communication.

 

The nationwide mammography screening is one example in which JiveX organizes fundamental parts of the image logistics. For this, vital pre-requisitions are established interfaces to the screening solutions MaSc and MammaSoft of the Association of National Health doctors in Westphalia-Lippe and Bavaria. Also the cross - site solution is successfully used in hospital associations, e.g. the Sana Group.

Solutions in Teleradiology

A fundamental element of high quality patient care is the quick seamless communication of image and finding data especially in cross - sector and integrated forms of provision. This also applies to hospitals with spread sites or a central radiology. With solutions for tele - radiology it is possible to explicitly save time and money for the transport of radiographs here. As all images and findings are available all the time, diagnostics is enhanced and therapy faster initiated. Realization of medical background service from home is another aspect.

 

Next to the classic point to point teleradiology VISUS is also offering compound solutions for big networks in teleradiology. Since May 2005 the Diagnostic Network AG is using this compound solution in the largest German network for teleradiology with more than 100 sites. All in all there are approximately 600 users working with JiveX within this network.

 

With the function DICOM E-Mail it is possible to build an independent DICOM network across several sites. Thus emerges a highly efficient image communication realized via secured data link. No other provider in Germany offers such a simple solution for the transmission of high volume medical image data to the assigning doctor.

Managed Services

By progressive innovations in imaging the data volume consistently increases. Experience shows that access rate tends to zero after shortly a year. Nonetheless images and findings have to be archived for at least ten years. Here new strategies are asked for, e.g. external archiving at a service provider. Why not make the next consistent step to let operate not only the archive but also the whole PACS?

 

As first PACS provider in Germany VISUS offers its customers complete ASP and SSP solutions (Application and Storage Service for PACS) on a pay-per-use basis. VISUS provides its customer with everything from software and services including full service via IT infrastructure with archive, server and also finding workstations and monitors to the highly available long-term preservation in a data processing service center for 24/7 handling.

 

The user may buy the solution, lease it for a fix monthly fee or decide in favour of a utilization - based payment (pay-per-use). Here he pays an individual monthly charge depending on configuration and complexity of the solution. On top of it there is a demand - oriented monthly user fee depending on agreed service as well as availability and performance warranties.

 

The advantages are clear: all in all it allows running a cost-saving business. As payment complies with usage he does not have to invest and therefore tie up capital. Costs can be planned as there are no additional costs for migration, administration or maintenance.

 

Since 2007 the practice for radiology, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy Krueger MD, Stoeblen MD, Baschour MD, assistant professor Eising MD in Essen uses the ASP solution at three sites as well as an integrated solution for image logistics and control in mammography screening. This includes work stations at the homes of Krueger MD and Stoeblen MD.

Cardiology / Endoscopy PACS

Today imaging and image management become more and more hospital - wide interdisciplinary issues. In terms of a consistent IT strategy - whose value is recognized to a greater extend by hospitals - such overall solutions form the vital basis for a consistent patient record. Especially the field of archiving shows all the benefits, e.g. when all data is available in a central storage unit. From here all users have access and therefore get a picture of the complete patients´ anamnesis.

 

It is for these reasons that VISUS increasingly focuses on special solutions for endoscopy and cardiology in the context of a consistent PACS. Both are consequently based on the DICOM standard and thus can be integrated into existing networks without problems. JiveX Cardiology allows integrating angiography and ECG images into the existing PACS while JiveX Endoscopy conduces to the DICOM video acquisition as well as to image and video documentation.