Is your Vendor Neutral Archive Really Vendor Neutral?

By: In: Healthcare Information Management On: Jun 29, 2012
Is your Vendor Neutral Archive Really Vendor Neutral?

The Vendor Neutral Archive offers the promise of a future-proofed archive, but because there isn’t any VNA conformance statement, there is no litmus test for a true VNA.   The proliferation of PACS over the past decade makes the need to centralize and share data has even more imperative – but also more difficult as the complexity of workflow challenges impacts a healthcare provider’s ability to effectively manage their archive.

While many vendors may claim that their products are vendor neutral, there are several criteria to consider.

  • First, you want to make sure that any solution you consider provides long-term viability of your stored data. Long-term viability can be provided by using a non-proprietary format (DICOM Part 10) to store your medical images and other objects.   This strategy enables you to share all the DICOM data elements of your medical images, such as presentation states and key image notes –enabling you to support a future strategy for growth.
  • Second, you want a solution that can integrate with your EMR.  You need to consider a solution that can store many types of electronic documents (medical images and scanned files) in the archive and associate them with the patient or study – making it possible for your Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to access them. In addition to the EMR, you need to consider how you can interface with your HIS and other clinical systems for the communication of reports, results, and updates – via the HL7 standard.
  • And last – but certainly not least – you want to make sure that any VNA solution you consider is supported by a storage environment that offers built in capabilities to manage upgrades and replacements so that those projects can be completed with minimal impact on clinical operations.   You need to minimize disruption to your workflow, and it is critical to understand how your future plans for PACS migrations and other updates will impact you.

As you can see, there is more to being vendor neutral than simply making the claim.   Assess your current situation, and learn how you can future-proof your archive.

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Tags: archivingdata backupdigitaldocument managementEHRelectronic medical recordsEMRhealthhealthcareHealthcare Information Managementhealthcare ITHIMhospitalimage host inimaginginformation managementITmedicalrecordsrecords managementVNA
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One Comment

  1. Shannon M. Werb
     July 3, 2012 at 7:12 am

    Lets not forget about the business model, PACS Enterprise Archive vs. VNA ISV business models are an important part of the decision making process.

    I agree fully with the above article, the VNA greatly simplifies the process of storing and managing all patient medical content and images, regardless of its origin, format or vendor orientation, making it readily available across the healthcare delivery spectrum. VNAs provide an essential foundation for efficiently delivering a comprehensive, image-enabled view of the patient. In my opinion PACS vendors see their control over the healthcare customer’s data slipping away and are creating confusion in the marketplace by incorrectly labeling their solutions as “vendor neutral.”

    The hype and confusion created by mislabeling PACS solutions as VNAs is likely to continue. The bottom line, however, is that PACS vendors, by and large, do a good job with medical image acquisition, display, departmental communication and workflow – where they are focused and should remain focused. The data management and enterprise interoperability aspects of PACS, however, is problematic for healthcare providers and government institutions that need to assemble a complete picture of the patient from many disparate and proprietary silos of patient data. The vendor neutral archive is an innovation whose time has come as our industry moves to the next level of technology-enhanced healthcare delivery and outcomes.

    I actually attended a panel where VNA vendors and PACS vendors (SIIM 2012) where talking about how each work together and differentiating the platforms. I was intrigued that one of the PACS vendors actually noted he felt the “A” in PACS should stand for “Access” leaving archiving to an independent VNA ISV, where they focus on data integration and mobility vs. access and display. What was most intriguing to me is that he represented a vendor that also markets their back end as a VNA, even though they primarily focus on PACS.

    Regards,
    Shannon
    Acuo Technologies

    Reply

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About the author

Nancy Twombly

Nancy Twombly is a Senior Solution Marketing Manager for Healthcare at Iron Mountain. In this role, Nancy is responsible for the go to market activities for Iron Mountain's portfolio of healthcare solutions. Prior to joining Iron Mountain, Nancy had worked in a variety of product marketing, channel marketing, and product management roles at Pegasystems and HP. Nancy holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.

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