Free Cloud-Based Medical Image Sharing Network Reduces Need for Duplicative Exams, Unnecessary Exposure to Radiation

An innovative new cloud-based service has been devised to enable users to upload, download, view, and share medical images--at no cost.

Merge Healthcare (Chicago, IL, USA), a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, announced Merge Honeycomb, “With Merge Honeycomb, we’re harnessing the cloud in a way that encourages and enables faster collaboration among all healthcare stakeholders, resulting in a true improvement in the delivery of care and reduction of costs,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. “With the largest network of imaging clients by far, Merge is taking this important step to connect the healthcare industry and expand interoperability.”

Announced October 5, 2011, at the Merge Live 2011 Client Conference, attended by over 500 healthcare professionals, Merge Honeycomb will be the US’s largest medical imaging sharing network and is open to anyone. Merge Honeycomb will officially be launched at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Conference in Chicago, IL, USA, in November, 2011. Users can preregister now for this free service online (please see Related Links below).

Merge Honeycomb should answer a variety of expensive healthcare challenges. It will reduce the need for duplicative scans, which costs the industry an average of US$35 billion per year and exposes patients to harmful and unnecessary radiation. (According to a 2010 study by the Center for Devices and Radiological Health and the US Food and Drug Administration, the radiation level in one computed tomography [CT] scan of the abdomen is approximately the same as 400 chest X-rays.)

Merge Honeycomb will also eliminate the archaic practice of using patients as transport vehicles. The need to burn X-rays, CT scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and other images onto CDs will be outdated. When a physician needs to view images, they can log into the image-sharing network via any web browser. It also speeds the time to treatment. Referring physicians will be able to view images in real-time and make diagnoses accordingly. Moreover, because the network is permission based, images can only be viewed by those who have been granted privilege. “As a long-time partner with Merge, we believe in the value of image sharing,” said Gregory Veltri, CIO of Denver Health. “We’re excited about the technology and business possibilities, in addition to the potential quality benefits that may result from Merge moving to the cloud.”

Related Links:
Merge Healthcare
Merge Healthcare - Honeycomb