Central And Secure Storage Of Patient Images And Reports For 33 Canadian Hospitals Sites
April 9, 2008
Working together, Agfa HealthCare and Canadian firm Teranet are to provide and host a new Diagnostic Imaging data centre and Virtual Private Network (VPN) service for 33 hospital sites across Ontario, allowing central and secure storage of patient images and reports. Once connected, staff will have real-time access to relevant patient images from across the different hospital sites, regardless of the point of origin.
Agfa HealthCare will implement the Diagnostic Imaging Data Centre which will centrally store the patient information in Teranet’s secure data centres.
The Hospital Diagnostic Imaging Repository Services (HDIRS) PACS project is a joint initiative involving 23 hospital corporations that want to share diagnostic images and reports across 33 Ontario hospital sites. It is part of the Canadian Health Infoway initiative to accelerate the implementation of reliable and secure health information systems, leading to the eventual goal of an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) for every Canadian. Formed in 2001, Canada Health Infoway is a federally-funded, independent, not-for-profit organisation whose members are Canada’s 14 federal, provincial and territorial Deputy Ministers of Health.
In addition, the project will provide disaster recovery, business continuity services and network management to improve hospital services and the delivery of patient care.
“Today’s Canadian health system requires a more secure and efficient method to process increasing amounts of medical data,” said Pat Ryan, General Manager, HDIRS. “We are looking forward to extending this partnership with both Agfa HealthCare and Teranet to work to make Canada Health Infoway’s national e-health initiative a reality.”
According to Michael Green, Regional Manager IT Business Division, Agfa HealthCare, Canada, “the Ontario-based HDIRS project is a vital undertaking as shared electronic patient information is a huge piece of the e-health puzzle. This project is a massive leap forward toward achieving Canada’s EPR goals, and will help healthcare organisations improve the delivery of patient care while improving the security of medical records.”
About Teranet Income Fund and Teranet
Teranet Income Fund is an unincorporated, open-ended trust established under the laws of Ontario by way of a declaration of trust. The Fund was created to indirectly acquire all of the outstanding shares of Teranet Inc. The units of the Fund trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TF.UN. Teranet is a leading provider of integrated land-based information products and services. Teranet operates in Ontario and provides access to the Ontario Electronic Land Registration System (ELRS) through its proprietary application, Teraview(TM) software. This product enables customers to conduct electronic registrations as well as title and writ searches relating to real property. Teranet has the exclusive right to access the data in and operate the ELRS and the Writs of Execution database, and create and market value-added products and services in connection with the ELRS and writs until March 31, 2017. These licences extend on a non-exclusive basis in perpetuity for the ELRS and until 2047 for writs. Teranet has leveraged its core capabilities to create electronic service offerings in complementary information and e-commerce areas. For more information on Teranet and Teranet Income Fund, please visit http://www.teranet.ca.
About Agfa
The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world’s leading imaging and information technology companies. Agfa develops, manufactures and markets analogue and digital systems for the printing industry (Agfa Graphics), the healthcare sector (Agfa HealthCare) and specific industrial applications (Agfa Materials). Agfa’s headquarters are in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is present in 40 countries and has agents in another 100 countries throughout the world. The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 3,283 million Euro in 2007.
About Agfa HealthCare
Agfa HealthCare, a member of the Agfa-Gevaert Group, is a leading provider of IT-enabled clinical workflow and diagnostic image management solutions, and state-of-the-art systems for capturing and processing images in hospitals and healthcare facilities. Agfa HealthCare has over a century of healthcare experience related to diagnostic imaging and has been a pioneer on the healthcare IT market since the early 1990’s. The HealthCare division has sales offices and agents in over 100 markets worldwide. Sales for Agfa HealthCare in 2007 were 1,392 million Euro, accounting for 43% of total group sales.
Agfa HealthCare
