Efficiency of Cloud-based Medical Imaging

Cloud computing is a concept wherein a computer grid is created using the Internet with the sole purpose of utilizing shared resources such as computer software, hardware, on a pay-per-use model. Using Cloud computing, radiology users can efficiently manage multimodality imaging units by using the latest software and hardware without paying huge upfront costs. Cloud computing can help imaging units rapidly scale and descale operations and avoid huge spending on maintenance of costly applications and storage. 

Instead of storing images on local IT infrastructure and sharing images through physical means such as compact discs, cloud radiology allows storage and transmission of images through an off-site network of computer servers. This model makes it easier to back up files and access those files through multiple devices, without the fear of losing the data if an individual device is compromised.

David Hirschorn, director of radiology informatics at Staten Island University Hospital and a member of the American College of Radiology’s informatics committee, says that while cloud technology has been available for at least a decade, pressures such as rules requiring meaningful use of electronic health records have pushed providers to share more images, giving cloud-based radiology a boost.

One challenge to expanding cloud-based radiology is resistance from some physicians and hospitals who see this as taking away their patients. “I regard this more as a psychological barrier than a rational barrier,” says Jonas Rydberg, a professor of clinical radiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. 

The downsides to Cloud computing involve also security and privacy issues which need to be addressed to ensure the success of Cloud computing in the future.