• Aspen Valley Hospital implements image-sharing capabilities prior to busy ski season
  • Joint solution allows physicians, hospitals and patients to securely connect and exchange images anywhere and integrate the information with existing digital records
Aspen Valley Hospital (AVH), a community hospital located in the heart of the Colorado ski region, is working with Dell and lifeIMAGE to implement an end-to-end solution featuring Dell's cloud-enabled image management and archival services and lifeIMAGE's medical image and information-sharing capabilities to reduce costs and improve patient/physician satisfaction.

In addition to caring for the community's local population, the AVH emergency department serves visitors who experience injuries on the ski slopes, as well as residents who maintain second homes in the area. Many of these patients require diagnostic imaging and coordination of follow-up care with a physician back home. The hospital radiology staff was spending hours each day burning images to CD and mailing/tracking overnight packages, which sometimes arrived late or broken. In worst-case scenarios, patients may be exposed to harmful, costly and unnecessary repeat exams, simply because their images cannot be transferred electronically.

Since AVH was already using Dell's cloud-based Unified Clinical Archive (UCA) solution to manage and archive the approximately 25,000 radiology exams it generates each year, the addition of lifeIMAGE's image and information-sharing capabilities was a natural fit.

"We want our patients to experience the highest quality of care, no matter where that care is delivered," said Jo-Dee Russell, chief imaging technologist at AVH. "With Dell and lifeIMAGE, we save time and money on the back-end, while providing the seamless customer service and continuity of care that our patients and referring physicians expect."

Dell's cloud-based archive streamlines the management of medical images and stores two copies of every image at geographically separate locations, providing an efficient disaster recovery strategy without the need to maintain and manage a second data center. By connecting to the lifeIMAGE network, AVH can securely share exams with outside hospitals, physicians and patients anywhere, who can quickly and easily view exams from any computer or mobile device with an Internet connection.

Dell and lifeIMAGE announced an alliance one year ago and since then have signed five new customers ranging from independent radiology centers to large academic medical centers.

In addition to AVH, the companies are working with the University of Michigan Health System (Ann Arbor, MI), Memorial Hospital (Gulfport, MS), Turville Bay MRI & Radiation Oncology Center (Madison, WI) and the University of Tennessee Medical Center (Knoxville, TN).

"lifeIMAGE and Dell are helping radiology departments eliminate the barriers that prevent the secure, electronic exchange of images and imaging information. In solving this problem for clinical specialists, radiology practices can experience greater operational efficiency, higher referral volumes, and better physician/patient satisfaction," said Jim Phillips, vice president of enterprise operations at lifeIMAGE.

" Hospitals like Aspen Valley are leading the way by giving patients control over their imaging data. This leads to better, more cost-efficient care, " said Andrew Litt, M.D., chief medical officer for Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences and a neuroradiologist. "Dell is pleased to work with lifeIMAGE to provide a suite of solutions that enables caregivers to reduce the number of repeat scans, eliminate silos of data, cut costs and improve care."

Dell and lifeIMAGE at RSNA 2013
Visit Dell (booth #3159 Hall A, South Building) and lifeIMAGE (booth #8044 Hall B, North Building) at RSNA 2013, the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, Dec. 1-5 in Chicago. At RSNA, Aspen Valley Hospital will host educational presentations on its image management, archiving and sharing strategy on Monday, Dec. 2 at 12 pm CT and Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 2 pm CT, in workshop #8355 (Hall B, North Building). To attend, pre-register at www.lifeIMAGE.com/aspen.

About lifeIMAGE
lifeIMAGE provides a broad set of solutions for universal e-sharing of diagnostic imaging information. These products securely connect hospitals, radiology groups and physicians to their patients everywhere and are currently deployed at many of the nation's leading healthcare institutions and academic medical centers. The goal of the lifeIMAGE platform is to help avoid duplicate exams and eliminate unnecessary patient exposure to excessive radiation. Learn more at www.lifeimage.com.

About Dell
Dell Inc. listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. Dell helps healthcare organizations harness the power of information to simplify administration; coordinate and manage patient care; transition from episodic care to prevention and wellness management; and ultimately to deliver personalized medicine. F or more information, visit www.dell.com/UnifiedClinicalArchive or follow @DellHealth.

Dell World
Join us at Dell World 2013, Dell's premier customer event exploring how technology solutions and services are driving business innovation. Learn more at www.dellworld.com, attend our virtual Dell World: Live Online event or follow # DellWorldon Twitter.

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