ACADEMIA

Acuo Technologies announced that Kettering Health Network (KHN) has selected the Universal Clinical Platform (UCP3) as the company's new vendor neutral archive solution. UCP3 will replace Kettering's existing PACS archives while providing an enterprise foundation for future on-premise and cloud-based clinical content management.

Kettering Health Network will deploy the UCP3 to leverage their consolidated data center and business continuity design in order to provide reliable access to all imaging data through a comprehensive archiving middleware solution for their 8 hospitals and more than 30 clinics.  The UCP3 provides the tools supporting Kettering's growth strategy.  The Acuo solution offers the ability to rapidly interoperate with newly acquired systems, and incorporate them into the clinical workflow without requiring a lengthy and expensive replacement.

As part of the Kettering implementation, Acuo will migrate many years of radiology and cardiology images from various PACS in the health system into the Acuo UCP3.  The UCP3 will provide network physicians with a single location to retrieve clinical content, rather than having to navigate multiple system interfaces and archives. This approach will facilitate an image-enabled EMR to improve physician effectiveness and provide better patient care, while lowering operational costs.

"Our engagement with Kettering Health Network came through an industry consultant and involved extensive investigation into identifying a solution that had a migration tool as an inherent component of the VNA as well as proven experience of actually replacing existing PACS archives, not just becoming a disaster recovery copy," said Jeff Timbrook, CEO of Acuo Technologies.  "Acuo is excited to partner with Kettering leadership as they share Acuo's vision of the next generation of image management systems that are focused on delivering superior patient care while reducing costs throughout the enterprise."

"Kettering partnered with Acuo Technologies after a thorough evaluation of the top VNA middleware suppliers," said Jon Russell, CIO of Kettering. "It became clear that Acuo's level of expertise with this type of technology was extensive, based on the effort of the Acuo team, working with Kettering's team, to develop a solution, not just to sell a product.  The Acuo UCP3 offering gives us the flexibility to deploy technology in a way that meets our strategic needs."