Revolutionising Healthcare Imaging with Cloud Tech
Hospitals and medical facilities are under increasing pressure as patient numbers grow and medical imaging becomes more complex. The surge in data from sophisticated diagnostic tools necessitates robust solutions for storage, analysis, and timely access to medical scans across various locations.
With the rapid evolution of healthcare technologies, the move towards cloud computing in healthcare has become essential. Conventional on-premises systems are becoming inadequate due to their inability to scale effectively with the ballooning data produced by modern imaging equipment like X-rays, MRI scanners, and digital pathology slides. These challenges stretch resources and complicate the essential sharing and processing of medical images.
Amid these challenges, Dutch healthcare technology giant Philips is deepening its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of Amazon. This collaboration aims to transition its vast array of diagnostic imaging systems to a cloud-based framework, streamlining operations in radiology, digital pathology, and cardiology.
Already, Philips has successfully transitioned over 150 healthcare institutions across North and South America to its HealthSuite Imaging platform which is powered by AWS cloud services. This move underscores the broad scale and ambition of the initiative.
Streamlining diagnostic processes
This partnership primarily allows medical professionals to access and consult diagnostic imagery online. By housing these images in the cloud, healthcare providers can view, analyse and discuss complex patient data remotely, facilitating improved cooperation across departments and specialties. This system changes the landscape of medical diagnostics, shifting from isolated, server-dependent systems to an integrated, cloud-based approach.
Moreover, the unified platform AWS provides enhances the viewing and comparison of patient data from various diagnostic sources in real-time. This accessibility supports advanced diagnostic capabilities and efficient patient management.
Matt Garman, CEO of AWS, emphasises the benefits of this collaboration, stating, "The collaboration between Philips and AWS gives healthcare providers scalable, secure-by-design cloud-enabled solutions to accelerate healthcare innovation. Combining Philips' healthcare informatics portfolio with AWS generative AI capabilities gives clinicians access to imaging insights so they can deliver more effective and efficient care to patients anywhere, anytime, with best-in-class security and privacy."
- A cloud service providing access to AI foundation models from companies including AI21 Labs, Anthropic and Meta through a single interface
- Allows companies to customise models with their own data and integrate them with other AWS services
- Uses serverless infrastructure, removing the need for companies to manage their own systems
- Supports applications including chatbots, text generation and image processing
Advancing medical reporting with AI
In an exciting development, Philips and AWS are also at the forefront of integrating artificial intelligence into healthcare workflows. They're crafting AI-driven applications that will eventually streamline administrative tasks for healthcare professionals.
A key project under this initiative is the development of voice-activated reporting systems. Here, clinicians can simply dictate their findings, and the AI converts this into structured medical reports, automatically integrating clinical history and relevant data points. This not only promotes efficiency but potentially enhances the accuracy of medical records.
Edward Steiner, Chief and Medical Director at The York/WellSpan Advanced Prostate Care Center, highlights the potential impact of this technology, "With Philips' concept of ambient reporting using generative AI, you simply could speak in a conversational tone and a structured report is generated within seconds. My estimate is a 15 to 20 percent increase in efficiency, and this is just the start."
Expanding success into Europe
Following their successful deployment across the Americas, Philips and AWS are now setting sights on Europe, aiming to replicate their success by assisting European healthcare facilities to transition their imaging systems to the cloud. This move is expected to cater to the varied and complex needs of European healthcare systems with Philips' HealthSuite Imaging on AWS providing an adaptable, secure, and compliant cloud computing solution tailored for healthcare data management.
Roy Jakobs, CEO of Royal Philips, underlines the ongoing commitment to integrating technological advancements in healthcare, "Philips' cloud-based healthcare informatics solutions allow us to drive better outcomes across clinical disciplines, including radiology, digital pathology and cardiology. We're working closely with clinicians to ensure workflows become more efficient and give back valuable time to healthcare providers."
Make sure you check out the latest industry news and insights at Healthcare Digital and be part of the conversation at our global conference series, Manufacturing LIVE.
Discover all our upcoming events and secure your tickets today.
Healthcare Digital is a BizClik brand