Digital lighthouse

“AGAPLESION developed a digitalization strategy early on. Its EMRAM certification two years ago followed years of groundwork aimed at using digitized processes to improve patient safety,” explains Michael Heitmann, the IT director for the Rotenburg hospital. “Implementing JiveX Integrated Imaging as a hospital-wide image archive in 2014 was an important step along the way. Since that time, the archive has been linked to every modality generating diagnostic images—whether radiology, cardiology, wound care or endoscopy.” In a maximum-care facility with over 20 departments, that adds up. The high degree of interoperability and flexibility that JiveX offers is what makes these connections all run so smoothly. “JiveX can be integrated into the existing IT landscape extremely well; that and the ability to connect new modalities at any time, regardless of manufacturer, were key arguments in favor of using JiveX,” recalls Fabian Haack, an IT team member whose responsibilities include JiveX. Another argument was the option of calling up image data directly from the HIS—even on mobile devices. One unusual issue in Rotenburg has historical roots at the hospital: JiveX is not used as a radiological diagnostics system. Yet even though radiologists instead work with another solution, all radiological data are sent to JiveX to make them available throughout the hospital. “Consolidating these image data was an enormously important step for the digitalization process and for developing a digital patient file. VISUS provided a lot of support when it came to creating the structures we needed. One way they helped was by working with us on calling up image data online using the iPad app from the HIS provider (iMedOne). Now we can do more than just look at image data on a mobile device—we can also use a DICOM worklist broker to generate orders and send them to the various modalities,” Haack goes on to say. The advantages of mobile, consolidated access to patient files, including images, are readily apparent: it saves users time, because they no longer have to search through different systems and workplaces, and it improves treatment quality, because it ensures that all of the relevant information on a patient will be displayed.

Stable, reliable—simply great

In addition to integratability and interoperability of a software solution, the key factors that play a role in Haack’s daily work are operability and performance. And the IT expert finds both of these to be extraordinarily good with JiveX. “Employees throughout the hospital can use the web distribution for accessing JiveX from the HIS. That includes a lot of people who haven’t had much experience using image management systems. That’s why it’s important to have an uncomplicated, self-explanatory viewer. JiveX does a really excellent job of meeting those criteria, and it offers the performance and stability we need too. I can’t remember any major failures with JiveX.”
Another real bonus, he feels, is the excellent service from VISUS, which responds to and/or resolves questions and concerns within one day. One reason for the quick response times is that customer service contacts rarely change: “That strengthens trust, of course, and ensures that problems will be resolved faster—after all, the service consultant knows us, our system and our unique setup,” says Haack, pleased. He is optimistic about the future with JiveX, which has by no means exhausted its data consolidation potential.