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IBM’s new GMAS Entry Edition solution will allow 551-bed health system
to share images across sites to improve patient care
ARMONK, NY, Nov. 28, 2005 - IBM, Bycast, Inc. and University Health Care System Augusta (UHCS) today announced an agreement to establish an enterprise-wide storage system to address the exponential growth of UHCS’ cardiology imaging and other fixed content data utilizing IBM’s new Grid Medical Archive Solution Entry Edition (GMAS EE). GMAS EE, designed for a Regional Hospital or department within larger hospital, reduces the entry price point for providers while still offering all the advantages of IBM’s original GMAS solution.
GMAS EE will allow University Health Care System to share cardiology, radiology and other digital images across sites. By being able to share images with other institutions and safely store patient cases for years, University Health Care System physicians will have the ability to improve patient care, advance research and reduce administrative costs.
“Our goal at UHCS is to provide the best possible health care for all of our patients. We recognized early the important role that infrastructure technology plays in allowing us to reach our goal of patient centric collaborative medicine”, said William Colbert, vice president and CIO of University Hospital. “Our plans are to share data across the entire 25-county region in Georgia and South Carolina. An important reason for selecting IBM GMAS EE was its ability to seamlessly scale to support all UHCS facilities.”
IBM’s latest GMAS solution combines the power of IBM services, servers and storage with Bycast StorageGRID software, a standard in grid-based fixed-content storage, in a manner designed to deliver a high performance and resilient enterprise fixed-content storage solution.
The grid-powered storage system enables Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS) applications and other systems to more readily access fixed-content data including medical images and documents. The solution’s flexibility will allow University Health Care System to cost effectively establish baseline technologies for fixed-content storage across the enterprise, beginning with a single site and scaling to the enterprise and region as a whole.
“We were looking for a storage platform that would deliver fast performance, ensure data availability, reduce administration and optimize our storage utilization,” said Colbert. “IBM’s GMAS EE solution provided us the best combination.”
GMAS EE utilizes Bycast StorageGRID™ Software and integrates leading edge IBM DS4100 TotalStorage and eServer xSeries Intel Servers. Single and dual rack (for additionally secure disaster recovery options) configurations range from an entry point of 4.8 Terabytes (TB) to a scalable usable capacity of 24 Terabytes, supporting affordable entry into the solution with investment protection as complexity of DR plans expand and exponential image retention requirements develop. For all, minimal onsite integration means a simple installation and a manageable low cost entry point that can easily scale to additional sites as providers’ needs change.
“IBM’s GMAS EE solution gives UHCS a simple, fast, resilient and open framework to begin building a platform for delivering truly collaborative medicine. This supports UHCS’ long-term strategy to improve patient care through the use of information technology (IT),” said Caroline Kovac, General Manager, IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences.
Implementing GMAS will help deliver the following benefits to University Health Care System:
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Fast Access to diagnostic images
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Improved application uptime and reliability with real time business continuity
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A low cost entry point to Grid storage with easy expansion to new facilities
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Lower Total Cost of Ownership
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Elimination of hardware vendor ‘lock-in’ via vendor agnostic solution
Similar to UHCS, many healthcare providers today are facing the challenge of rapidly growing storage needs. With IBM’s solution, providers can leverage resources across multiple applications and sites instead of continuing to invest in storage every time an individual departmental need arises.
About IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences Grid Medical Archive Solution:
Implementing GMAS underneath an enterprise PACS or imaging system can help deliver the following benefits to healthcare organizations:
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Intelligent, cost-effective storage: Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) capabilities of the grid-powered storage system enable intelligent placement of medical images - high-value studies on online, while less important data can automatically be stored near-line or offline. The value of the data can be derived from the file content or metadata. Storing data in the right place, on the right media, at the right time will reduce the total cost of ownership of an enterprise storage system.
- Reduced hardware obsolescence with easier upgrades: GMAS was designed to enable seamless technology refreshes – new hardware resources can be transparently added, older existing hardware is easily decommissioned and data migration is automated. In healthcare, where data will outlive hardware, hardware obsolescence protection will help drastically reduce the total cost of ownership.
- Built-in business continuity: GMAS intelligent replication and grid architecture can deliver business continuity robustness in case of a disaster. In healthcare, where digital image archives can be hundreds of terabytes, this built-in approach to business continuity is superior to traditional “back-up and restore” procedures, which may lead to extended service disruptions during recovery.
- Greater openness, scalability and reliability: GMAS provides a unified storage system that supports multi-PACS, multi-storage vendor and multi-server environments. Storage virtualization enables improved scalability, reliability and availability.
About University Health Care System
Anchored by a 551-bed, not-for-profit community hospital, University Health Care System serves 25 counties in Georgia and South Carolina. University provides compassionate and skilled care through nursing facilities, home health, prompt care facilities and rehabilitation programs. Founded in 1818, University is the oldest hospital in the area it serves.
The medical staff of more than 450 primary care physicians and specialists who practice at University provides everything from routine preventive and diagnostic care to comprehensive cardiovascular and oncology services, and much more. They care for more patients, perform a wider range of surgeries, and bring more babies into the world than any other area provider.
In 2005, University was awarded the prestigious Magnet Designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center recognizing quality patient care and nursing excellence. Being a Magnet hospital means that University's patient care program has been named one of the best in the nation. Also in 2005, University was named the National Research Corporation's Consumer Choice Award winner for the seventh consecutive year.
About Bycast
Bycast Inc. is the standard in high performance storage software solutions based on the next generation of grid computing technology. The Bycast StorageGRID™ solution combines the power of grid computing with intelligent information lifecycle management to optimize petabyte scale archives of fixed content data. Healthcare providers can leverage Bycast software solutions to securely store and efficiently transmit diagnostic images and documents within the enterprise or across multi-site facilities. Bycast solutions have been deployed at leading healthcare institutions including Banner Health, Mercy Hospital and the British Columbia Cancer Agency. Bycast Inc. is a privately held company located in Vancouver, BC, Canada and is on the Web at www.bycast.com.
About IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences
IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences brings together IBM resources, including information technology, deep industry insights, and research expertise, to help clients develop and deliver safer, more affordable and more effective diagnostics, drugs and medical care.
Jorge Alberni
(914) 766-3336
alberni@us.ibm.com
Amy Anderson
(404) 879-9106
Amy.anderson@ketchum.com
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