Avnet beefs up HealthPath practice with new Vendor Neutral Archive Solutions 30 November, 2009 By Mark Cox

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The solutions come from distribution agreements Avnet is also announcing with three industry-leading VNA independent software vendors: Acuo Technologies, which makes high-performance software for intelligent medical image management, standards based archiving, data migration tools and services; DeJarnette Research Systems, Inc., which makes medical imaging workflow and medical image management software; and TeraMedica Healthcare Technology: a medical informatics company that provides software to collect digital medical images from diverse data sources across healthcare systems and manage them in a single patient snapshot.

"Each of these vendors would consider the other a competitor," said David Hutchinson, Director, Healthcare Solutions, Avnet Technology Solutions. "There is no clear-cut market leader because it's an early adopter market, so we have signed agreements with all three."

Hutchinson said that while this market is still an the early adopter stage, the solutions, which are designed to centralize silos of patient health information, especially medical images, while providing both easy access and necessary security, meet a developing need within the health care industry.

"This technology has just come on to the scene and wasn't available before." Hutchinson said. "What was out there was more siloed and proprietary. Today's solutions point more to an IT-based solution than a clinical-based solution, so it plays well to that channel."

Hutchinson said that these kind of solutions will not appeal to very reseller involved with the HealthPath practice.

"I would consider these niche solutions," he said. "A solutions provider would need a storage competency in order to take them to market. It would also require investment and domain expertise in order to take them to market."

A key part of the VNA offerings is that Avnet partners will now be able to provide Enterprise Medical Image Management Assessment services to their customers. These assessments analyze the medical imaging systems of departments and facilities based on quantifiable metrics, clinical processes and growth patterns. The resulting analysis provides a recommended technology roadmap based on study volumes, study sizes, growth rates and record retention policies. Medical facilities will also receive a personalized business case, focusing on the three-year cost savings through system centralization, data migration and resource optimization.

"We are bringing to the table an assessment service, which we have had success in elsewhere, and we are bringing that to health care," Hutchinson said. "It's a good way for our solution providers to generate a sales cycle.