New Cloud Ecosystem Targets Healthcare Industry

GE Healthcare (GE; Little Chalfont, United Kingdom) has unveiled a Health Cloud and apps that are designed exclusively to connect medical imaging with analytics.

The GE cloud ecosystem will connect to more than 500,000 GE imaging machines, shifting image post-processing from on-site machines to the Cloud, where three-dimensional (3D) images can be viewed on multiple devices both inside and outside the hospital setting. Radiologists and clinicians will link with the ecosystem using cloud-based apps that can connect them in real time with imaging, data, analytics and insights, as well as with other clinicians, thus promoting collaboration across care pathways and multidisciplinary teams.

Apps available will include Centricity Cloud Advanced Visualization, Centricity Multi-Disciplinary Team Virtual Meeting, Centricity Case Exchange, and Centricity Image Access. The apps will be delivered on a subscription basis, allowing hospitals and health systems an on-demand, flexible computing power that can be scaled up or down on a variable cost model that will allow them to control computing expenses. The cloud ecosystem will also include a software development toolkit (SDK), and its app store will host and promote new software solutions.

“Healthcare devices are generating enormous amounts of data, and that data is expected to increase 50 fold by 2020. The GE Health Cloud can help unlock the value of this data quickly and seamlessly for better patient care,” said John Flannery, president of GE Healthcare. “The GE Health Cloud will help clinicians turn data into insights, and insights into tangible actions for decision-makers to drive better outcomes.”

“Our new apps will bring incredible computing and mobility power to radiologists and clinicians,” said Jan De Witte, president of IT at GE Healthcare. “By enhancing radiologists' speed and confidence through the apps, we can help improve their ability to collaborate with referring clinicians inside and outside the hospital.”

The apps are being developed as part of a partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC; PA, USA) in a joint venture known as Omnyx. The Health Cloud and apps will also be open for development by third parties, healthcare providers, and academic institutions, in a bid to attract independent software vendors (ISVs) to develop their apps in the new cloud ecosystem.

Related Links:
GE Healthcare
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center