With this week’s introduction of Universal Viewer, GE Healthcare aims to
put clinical insight within reach to help radiologists and referring
physicians deliver patient results efficiently. Universal Viewer brings
together advanced visualization, intelligent productivity tools, and
multimodality workflow for oncology and breast imaging all within one
intuitive workspace that can be accessed anywhere, anytime. It works
with Centricity* PACS, Centricity PACS-IW, and Centricity Clinical
Archive.
A recent GE-sponsored study conducted by ACR Image Metrix, a subsidiary
of the American College of Radiology, showed up to 2.5 hours in a
radiologist’s day wasted because of workflow inefficiency. As healthcare
rapidly evolves to a more patient-centric, collaborative, and
outcomes-focused model, customers need to integrate information 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, Universal Viewer has
the potential to provide 5% productivity improvement. It has a unified
user interface with a single look and feel that is easy to learn and
able to adapt to radiologists’ preferences, automating exam setup.
Referring physicians can access the viewer from anywhere and patients
can get from the exam to their results in less time.
Centricity PACS and Centricity PACS-IW users will find a new dimension
of clinical intelligence as they explore Universal Viewer. It enables
seamless workflow with pre- and post-processing. Advanced clinical
applications, powered by AW, are embedded 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.
"This is really fantastic,” said Dr. James Whitfill, Chief Medical
Informatics Officer of Southwest Diagnostic Imaging in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"When we bring all of this together and provide what I think we’re all
asking for, it’s really going to be an exciting step forward.”
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 in 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
required to access.
Jan De Witte, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare IT
and Performance Solutions 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.”
*Centricity is a registered trademark of General Electric Company.
GE Healthcare at RSNA 2012
Each year in Chicago, the conference of the Radiological Association of
North America (RSNA) provides a forum for showcasing the latest
innovations in medical imaging. If you are attending the conference,
please visit GE Healthcare at booth number 5433 in McCormick Place south
hall. Throughout the week of the event, GE Healthcare will distribute
news and information using these digital platforms:
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Digital press kit: newsroom.gehealthcare.com/press-kits/ge-healthcare-at-rsna-2012
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Twitter: @GEHealthcare and hashtag #GEWorks
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YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/gehealthcare
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Flickr: www.flickr.com/people/gehealthcare
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Instagram: instagram.com/generalelectric
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About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and
services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise
in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics,
patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical
manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance
solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more
people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with
healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change
necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare
systems.
Our "healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join
us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on
increasing access and improving quality and affordability around the
world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of
General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees
are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in
more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit
our website at www.gehealthcare.com.
For our latest news, please visit http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com.
1 GE Healthcare Software Center of Excellence study
