For more than a decade now, Radiologie Rhine-Nahe under the direction of Dr. Nobert Vogel, Dr. Peter Kalden and Dr. Alexander Hlawatsch has been utilizing JiveX Enterprise PACS. Since then, it has expanded in line with the growing number of practice locations and continues to be the preferred system. The main reasons for this are its stability and the discreet approach of the software, which is not preoccupied with itself but focuses on the diagnosing clinicians and their needs.

"In the meantime, JiveX has become an extremely feature-rich system that includes numerous special applications - but which, to be quite honest, we don't really need for routine practice. The fact that JiveX continues to be the system of choice for our radiologists is due to the simple reason that VISUS does not impose these functions on itsusers . According to the motto 'Can do, but don't have to', they remain in the background until possibly needed. And that's the charm of JiveX: the system keeps evolving, yet my personal workplace remains more or less the same. I don't have to learn a new system every time or work with interfaces where only half the applications are used," explains Norbert Vogel.

Another bonus, which is equally relevant for users and IT experts, is the stability of the system, as IT manager Matthias Thiele adds: "In the PACS area, we have almost no downtimes. In addition, we have to provide virtually no support for our users. And if we do get calls, they usually relate to limitations in image transmission due to a lack of bandwidth. JiveX is very inconspicuous in a positive sense, which is what makes it so attractive to us."

Unparalleled support and easy networking

Admittedly, support from VISUS is rarely required as the system is so immensely stable. However, when needed, the answers and solutions follow promptly, which Matthias Thiele particularly appreciates. Due to the takeover of existing practices in the past years, the entire RRN team has come into contact with the PACS of other manufacturers - also accompanied by a certain amount of curiosity as well as being open-minded about changing systems. "In the end, however, we always opted for VISUS, even if it was not always the most inexpensive solution. That said, the entire product and company strategy and, above all, the cooperation and support are unique. And especially in a technologically mature environment, as is the case with PACS, these attributes make all the difference," says Norbert Vogel.

But the flexibility of the system within a network is also of crucial importance. For the owners of the practices, using the same system across all locations plays a major role. One reason being that staff occasionally rotate and should have the same working conditions everywhere. And secondly, because existing knowledge should be available across all locations. In concrete terms: image data are on occasions exchanged within the network in order to obtain a second opinion. And this exchange must operate both fast and stably, so that the findings also become available quickly. Working with different systems would be a potential complication here.

And finally, it is not uncommon for patients to present at different locations over the years. Then it proves very helpful for diagnostic purposes to be able to quickly access existing preliminary examinations. 

Referral and other services

Exchange between the locations takes place via a central server in a computer center in Mainz, whereby the practices are connected in a star configuration. Each location has a local PACS, archiving takes place in the data center. From here, the images are transmitted to the individual locations. "We had a limitation at the new location in Mainz, where a referral portal is being used. Here, we are currently introducing JiveX Connect Link Share before we can then replace the old PACS. Link Share generates a link that referrers can then use to simply access the radiological images of their patients. And the viewer opens automatically in the process," reports RRN's IT manager. 

The solution via such a link could also be of interest for other locations, as the volume of patient data that is now being transmitted to the referring physicians very often exceeds the volume of a DVD. Handling via a link then simply becomes more practical.

"And by the way, the good thing about the VISUS Viewer is that it can really read everything. We still frequently receive data on DVDs. These - and also data from other sources - can mostly be viewed exclusively via the VISUS Viewer, which is really superb. For me personally, the easy retrieval of previous images and their direct comparison plays a major role, as I prepare many oncological reports and here, of course, progress monitoring represents a significant issue. The JiveX Viewer shows me all the images in parallel - regardless of the modality. And in addition, the medical reports or other documents, if necessary. This is really fantastic," concludes radiologist Norbert Vogel.