Enterprise imaging expands in smaller and midsized hospitals
Enterprise imaging has mainly been a health IT solution for large hospital systems, but it is now making inroads into smaller and midsized hospitals. Konica Minolta has provided radiology picture archiving and communication systems for this segment and is now expanding in its traditional market space with the recent launch of its Exa Enterprise imaging system.
The product was designed to meet the needs of smaller hospitals with up to 500 beds, explained Tim Kearns, director of marketing for healthcare IT at Konica Minolta Imaging USA, in a video interview with Radiology Business. He said this market for small and medium sized hospitals has been underserved, so the new solution offers both functionality and an affordable price point. The trend toward consolidation of smaller clinics and health systems and changing reimbursement models are driving hospitals to acquire or start their own outpatient imaging centers, creating greater demand for more integrated enterprise imaging solutions.
"We're seeing the trend, so we want to go after that market to broaden our growth. The imaging centers use the hospital's PACS. So the Exa version that we released takes us into the enterprise imaging space," Kearns said.
The latest version of Exa Enterprise, unveiled at Radiological Society of North America 2024 meeting in December, builds upon Konica Minolta's RIS-PACS platform, but introduces significant enhancements. A key feature is a strengthened API infrastructure, allowing seamless integration with third-party partners to deliver a comprehensive enterprise imaging ecosystem. Konica Minolta is leveraging these partnerships to offer best-in-class solutions without the need to develop additional ancillary systems in-house.
Cloud computing plays a central role in this expansion. Konica Minolta is working with Amazon Web Services to deploy its system on AWS Health Imaging, which enables hospitals and imaging centers to optimize workflows, enhance viewing capabilities, and offload infrastructure management. This partnership ensures that healthcare providers retain broad access to their data, enabling them to integrate business intelligence and AI-driven analytics without reliance on a single vendor.
Another crucial component of Exa Enterprise is its scalability. As hospitals and health systems grow through acquisitions or increased patient volumes, the AWS cloud-based infrastructure provides the elasticity needed to scale up or down efficiently.
Additionally, Konica Minolta said its collaboration with established companies like Apollo, ClearPath, NewVue and Quinsite enhances the enterprise imaging experience. Apollo’s universal viewer supports multiple medical specialties and integrates clinical data from various modalities, including non-DICOM images. ClearPath simplifies image and record sharing, reducing reliance on CDs while streamlining access for patients, physicians and legal professionals. Quinsite provides deep analytics on productivity and operational efficiency, allowing healthcare organizations to make data-driven decisions. The Exa Enterprise platform also incorporates a native advanced visualization application, including multi-planar reconstruction (MPR), 3D reconstruction and segmentation tools.
One of the challenges healthcare providers face when adopting enterprise imaging is integration. Even when vendors claim compatibility with HL7 and other common standards, integration often proves difficult. Kearns said Exa Enterprise seeks to alleviate these issues with its robust API-driven architecture, ensuring seamless interoperability between various imaging and workflow management systems.
Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: dfornell@innovatehealthcare.com