Rob Shaughnessy, CTO, Circadence
In the acquisition of medical images and patient data from various databases, the two most important factors are speed and security. With the recent, ongoing rise of mobile devices for the acquisition and reading of images—such as iPads and Android devices—health care providers are in need of a solution that will both expedite the acquisition process as well as maintain critical security standards. Enter Circadence, a provider of WAN and network optimization solutions.
“The emergence of mobile devices, specifically high-performance tablets with high-definition displays and strong graphics performance, has enabled radiology professionals to ‘untether’ themselves from imaging systems,” said Circadence CTO Rob Shaughnessy. “Mobility allows practitioners to be closer to their patients, provide a higher level of care, and greatly increase efficiency. With mobile devices, health care professionals can ‘bring’ the technology to their patients.
“However, as the capabilities of mobile devices grow, the demands placed on the network infrastructure will also increase substantially. The size of image studies increases near exponentially as they expand in definition, making WAN optimization essential for effective use. The capabilities mobility brings to radiology also are increasing rapidly and in many ways are creating positive changes in the dynamic between caregiver and patient.”
Circadence offers the MVO for Mobile WAN optimization solution for use with mobile devices on iOS, Android, and Windows platforms. In the health care setting, Circadence’s WAN optimization solution enhances patient care with high-speed, secure, and reliable transmission of data, ranging from individual electronic health records (EHR) to large data and image files used for diagnostics and treatment.
The increased use of mobile devices in health care organizations is putting greater demands on network infrastructures.
“Circadence MVO for Mobile provides full end-to-end optimization between applications and content,” Shaughnessy said. “In the health care setting, this could include hospitals, remote clinics, distributed call centers, remote offices, and individual users on laptops, tablets, and smartphones. In health care, typical applications that MVO can be used for include EMR/EHR and image study transfers.”
One of the major concerns with the mobile platforms remains the maintenance of security standards surrounding private patient data. Complying with federal guidelines like HIPAA is required regardless of what platform information is being viewed on. In order to ensure patient privacy, the Circadence MVO for Mobile solution does not cache, store, or decrypt information sent across the network.
The Circadence solution offers a number of other benefits as well, including OEM integration with third party platforms and applications, such as PACS imaging systems; broadest deployment capabilities, reducing infrastructure costs and accelerating ROI optimization of all data dynamically in real time, without caching or modifying; and Circadence’s patented Link Resiliency, which maintains application session persistence.
The company realizes that, given the increasing prevalence of off-site and mobile information needs, health care facilities not only need these resources, but they need them in the most effective, easy to use manner. Usability and installation are the names of the game when speed and security are taken care of. As such, the company aims to make MVO for Mobile as simple to implement and manage as possible. With all of these prerequisites in check, hospitals and radiology groups are able to take advantage of all of the resources of a fast, safe network, in house or on the go.
“WAN optimization solutions such as Circadence MVO are critical for delivering radiology studies across networks—especially in areas for limited bandwidth or intermittent Internet connection,” Shaughnessy said. “The broad deployment options offered by Circadence enable radiology practices to implement optimization in ways that best suit their particular practices. For example, distributed radiology offices can use WAN optimization to provide higher performance transferring content between offices. Centralized radiology providers can dramatically increase the number of studies their radiologists are able to read, increasing revenue and decreasing costs. Mobile WAN optimization also ensures that practitioners can access even larger, high-definition studies regardless of their location.”
