- System enhances Centricity PACS, Centricity PACS-IW and Centricity Clinical Archive
Dubai, UAE; January 29, 2013: Today at Arab Health 2013, GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE) is introducing its innovative Universal Viewer, for the first time in the Middle East, an intuitive workspace that brings together advanced visualization, intelligent productivity tools, and multi-modality workflows for oncology and breast imaging all within one tool that can be accessed anywhere, anytime, when there is an internet connection. Universal Viewer is designed to put clinical insight within reach to help radiologists and referring physicians deliver patient results more efficiently, enabling patients to get their exam results in less time. The Universal Viewer works with Centricity* PACS, Centricity PACS-IW, and Centricity Clinical Archive. In addition, its unified user interface provides a single look and feel that is easy to learn and able to adapt to radiologists' preferences, automating exam setup.
A recent GE-sponsored study conducted by ACR Image Metrix, a subsidiary of the American College of Radiology, showed that up to 2.5 hours in a radiologist's day is wasted because of workflow inefficiency. As healthcare rapidly evolves to a more patient-centric, collaborative, and outcomes-focused model, customers increasingly need to integrate information from across different systems to help make patient diagnosis and treatment more efficient. Rather than creating complexity with multiple logins, tools that behave differently, and separate workstations, the Universal Viewer has the potential to provide a 5% productivity improvement.1
"As healthcare delivery continues to evolve to meet increased demand, workflow solutions and connectivity that unlock new insights become crucial to efficiently and effectively achieve results. GE Healthcare's IT solutions help clinicians to make, faster, more informed decisions and achieve gains that providers and patients desire", said Mamar Gelaye, General Manager of Healthcare IT for GE Healthcare's operations in Middle East, Africa, Russia & CIS and Turkey and Central Asia.
Centricity PACS and Centricity PACS-IW users will find a new dimension of clinical intelligence as they explore Universal Viewer. It enables a seamless workflow with pre- and post-processing. Advanced clinical applications, powered by AW, are embedded in the viewer to enable oncology quantification, auto bone removal, vessel analysis, and registration. In an industry "first," Universal Viewer also includes integrated mammography tools for screening and diagnostics, with the ability to display images across a breadth of modalities, support CAD markers and IHE profiles, and connect with reporting systems.
For radiologists who want a next generation viewer that requires less manual setup to read exams, Universal Viewer has the potential to reduce mouse clicks by 70%[1]. It has a "smart reading protocols" feature developed by GE's Global Research Center that essentially digitizes radiologists' sequencing preferences on the fly as though it were hanging physical film across a lightbox. It introduces case-based reasoning techniques, including machine learning algorithms, image analytics, and text mining for automating exam setup.
"Adopting new applications means change for providers, but minimizing change by keeping workflows consistent can help to reduce the impact and lost productivity associated with the change. Machine learning features are a great way to digitize workflows without long, costly implementation projects and extensive application customization," said Judy Hanover of IDC, a leading analyst firm, "Radiologists will appreciate being able to work in a digital environment without having to abandon their familiar customs."
A zero footprint (ZFP) exam viewer intended to deliver non-diagnostic, review-only capabilities provides clinicians with easy, enterprise-wide access to images and reports through connectivity with an EMR or GE Healthcare's Centricity Clinical Archive. The ZFP has the added advantages of a zero installation with no download of any software to the user's device. It also does not require administrative rights to access.
Jan De Witte, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare IT and Performance Solutions, onsite at Arab Health for the Middle East unveiling, said, "This is an enormous step on a path to our future, a future of intensifying imaging investment and innovation. Customers have told us that systems have become too complex and interoperability needs improvement. This takes away time they could be reading exams and delivering patient results. We invite radiologists everywhere to join us and view our proposed solution, Universal Viewer. We invite them to tell us what they think and, most of all, to stand by to see the future of imaging IT delivered to their desktops."
GE Healthcare IT believes that integrated care is the future of healthcare delivery. Integrated care is a patient-driven, outcomes-driven method of delivering healthcare. It is enabled by linking together information from across the healthcare delivery system (in-patient, ambulatory, home-based), to generate new insights that help to improve the quality of care, while contributing to cost and waste reduction from the healthcare system. Today, GE Healthcare IT is actively investing in software enabled solutions that matter to its customers, and helping them run more effectively and efficiently - contributing to better quality care for more patients at a lower cost.
With growing demand for such solutions across the Middle East, GE Healthcare IT recently announced an e-health Interoperability Standards Program with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health, as part of the Kingdom's strategy to enable interoperability between different parts of the healthcare system to improve access, patient safety and the quality of healthcare. This ambitious and industry-leading effort would support the Ministry in achieving an integrated solution for the management of patient information records across Saudi Arabia, enabling better management of patients through the healthcare system, optimize the flow of patient information records between hospitals and help improve patient safety.
Visit GE Healthcare's stand at Arab Health at Saeed Hall, Booth #S3B10 at the Dubai International Convention Center. With over 3,500 exhibitors, Arab Health is the world's longest running healthcare exhibition and congress and is now in its 38th year. About 85,000 visitors are expected to attend the event, from over 140 countries.
As a Platinum Sponsor of Arab Health and a key partner of choice to healthcare providers across the Middle East, GE Healthcare will also present its diverse portfolio of products, services and customer solutions as part its commitment to strengthening the region's healthcare infrastructure.
[1] GE Healthcare Software Center of Excellence study
Kelly Home
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller
[email protected]
+971 4 4507 600
Nivine William
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller
[email protected]
+971 4 4507 600
Caroline Wehbeh
GE Communications Leader, North Africa
[email protected]
+971 4 429 6318