DICOM Grid Powers Global Health IT Non-Profits In Their Mission To Improve Access To Radiology

NEW YORK, July 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DICOM Grid, makers of the leading cloud-based, medical image management suite, today announced it is powering image exchange for three non-profit organizations – RAD-AID, Partners In Health, and thesecondopinion – in their mission to improve access to modern healthcare and best-in-class second opinion services for underserved communities worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 4 billion people are at risk for widespread losses and deaths that can be avoided or treated, if radiology were available. With medical imaging being a key component of accurate and precise patient care, many non-profits have focused upon making medical imaging tests available, easily accessed, and accurately read across the globe. As part of its vision to help improve medical image management through better technology, DICOM Grid is privileged to donate a portion of the implementation services and subscription fees for image exchange to aid these non-profit organizations in their mission.

Educating and training local radiology teams is the focus of RAD-AID, which began in 2008 with a mission to increase and improve radiology resources in developing nations. In Nepal, a serious earthquake was the motivating factor to examine cloud technologies for disaster recovery.  Today, the Bir Hospital in Katmandu in partnership with RAD-AID, uses DICOM Grid to perform roughly 100-150 exams a day and is the first Cloud PACS deployed in the country.  Physicians are no longer tied down to physical modalities and have access on mobile devices around the growing and busy facility, allowing for quick data access on-the-go. A cloud-based archive also allows for the storage of prior studies, reducing the amount of re-scans, improving medical accuracy and avoiding radiation overexposure. RAD-AID remains focused on educating local physicians. "Didactic teaching is a big win with a web-based viewer. Case reviews held remotely serve as a fantastic teaching tool," said Andrew Kesselman, Director, RAD-AID Informatics.

Partners In Health began in Haiti in 1987 with a focus on HIV prevention and treatment. Since then, their mission has expanded to providing the benefits of modern medicine to some of the world's poorest and sickest communities. Partners In Health uses DICOM Grid to send studies from the University Hospital in Mirebalais in Haiti's Central Plateau to US-based volunteer radiologists. Prior to DICOM Grid, sending studies across the globe was a highly manual process, often filled with outage issues.  Since moving to DICOM Grid, the image transfer success rate has dramatically improved to 100%, according to Louise Secordel, Program Coordinator, Medical Informatics Team. "As our hospital volume continues to grow with over 1,000 patient visits a day, fewer technological issues give us more time to focus upon education and preventive care," said Secordel.

A lack of radiology resources is not only a concern within developing nations, but also within underserved communities in the United States. The mission of thesecondopinion is to give cancer patients with limited medical resources, the clarity they need to make decisions about treatment. Over its 45-year history, it has impacted the lives of thousands of cancer patients and their families, by providing them with free, comprehensive second opinions about their treatment options in an in-person panel format. At the heart of its program are the volunteer efforts of over sixty board-certified physicians from multiple cancer related specialties. Intake staff at thesecondopinion use DICOM Grid to upload prior studies of patients seeking advice, which are then accessed through the web and reviewed by volunteer radiologists using DICOM Grid's FDA 510(k) cleared viewer from their office, their home, or wherever they might be. Using a multidisciplinary team of volunteer cancer specialists to provide a free, independent, comprehensive second opinion and communicate directly as a committee with the patient and family in a panel format is truly a unique and compassionate approach to providing medical care. "DICOM Grid has been tremendous for our volunteer physicians who no longer face long study upload times or frustrating searches looking for studies," said Dr. Howard Kleckner, Medical Director for thesecondopinion.

About DICOM Grid
DICOM Grid is a healthcare SaaS company dedicated to making digital medical image management accessible to all, from anywhere. Our powerful cloud-based suite streamlines the medical image exchange process and connects patients, care providers, and facilities worldwide. We work with some of the largest hospitals and health systems such as the Mayo Clinic, Stanford Children's Health, Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Hermann as well as private practices, imaging centers, clinical research organizations, and health information exchanges. Discover what the power of the cloud can do for your healthcare enterprise at www.dicomgrid.com. 

SOURCE DICOM Grid

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