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Colorado Telehealth Network signs contract with GNAX Health
[December 12, 2012]

Colorado Telehealth Network signs contract with GNAX Health


Dec 12, 2012 (Datamonitor via COMTEX) -- The Colorado Telehealth Network, or CTN, has signed a contract with GNAX Health, a healthcare technology infrastructure and application delivery service provider, to enable health care providers in Colorado to store and share medical images.



GNAX Health is partnering with Acuo Technologies and Client Outlook to provide vendor-neutral archiving services and diagnostic-quality medical image viewing as part of the service.

CTN has developed a program that will enable hospitals, imaging centers, clinics and other health care providers in Colorado to safely store and share medical images through a private cloud hosted and managed by GNAX Health on CTN.


CTN and GNAX Health are working with the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO) and Quality Health Network (QHN) - the two Colorado Health Information Exchanges - to image-enable their physician portals so that images and diagnostic reports will be available through the HIEs.

GNAX Health will also allow CTN to offer disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. In addition, electronic medical records (EMRs) can be integrated with the infrastructure to provide physicians a single interface for viewing all medical images, which is a requirement for Stage 2 Meaningful Use.

After a thorough RFI process and evaluation of five solutions, CTN selected a solution provided by GNAX Health through a strategic alliance with Acuo Technologies and Client Outlook.

The solution combines Acuo's Universal Clinical Platform (UCP) with Client Outlook's eUnity clinical image visualization, sharing and collaboration toolset, hosted within GNAX's health care-focused cloud infrastructure and tier-4 data centers - all supported by a cohesive customer support program. This collective solution provides necessary components critical to building a statewide vendor neutral archive and, subsequently, a secure disaster recovery and business continuity solution for medical imaging, said CTN.

GNAX Health is also providing a web-based image exchange service for CTN, called SDEX (Secure DICOM Exchange) that is integrated into the foundation of Acuo's UCP and utilizes the Client Outlook viewer.

Studies can be retrieved from any of the connected PACS, local edge devices or from the cloud archive, making the location of the image transparent to the end user in addition to reducing the total amount of storage required (because images do not have to be copied in all locations to be accessible).

The benefits of the program to Colorado health care providers and patients are numerous. Patients of participating providers should no longer be required to transport their own imaging studies via CD or film. Consequently, such patients should no longer undergo duplicate studies, reducing unnecessary radiation exposure.

CTN leverages the reciprocal collaborative nature of the solution to make it affordable for all providers in Colorado. The services are available to all CTN members through flexible deployment models that fit each provider's needs. Because the program is scaled across the entire state of Colorado, it provides cost savings for both large and small providers.

The small hospitals receive an enterprise vendor-neutral archive and exchange solution at a fraction of the cost while gaining access to specialists at larger institutions for their patients. Large providers also benefit from the collaboration with critical access facilities because they can service patients they may not otherwise be able to as easily, added CTN.

"This pioneering agreement between CTN, GNAX, Acuo Technologies and Client Outlook further solidifies our network as a national leader in health information technology and connectivity," comments Ed Bostick, CTN executive director.

"We are confident this new image-storing service has the functionality and advantages our clients deserve, and promise to significantly enhance patient care coordination and quality across Colorado." http://www.datamonitor.com Republication or redistribution, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without prior written consent. Datamonitor shall not be liable for errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon

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