EMC (NYSE:[[ticker:EMC]]). Those images can then be shared and viewed by any doctor with a Web browser and Adobe Flash, as long as the person who controls the cloud-based account has given the doctor permission to access them.
Adoption of the firm’s software is also being driven by macro-trends in healthcare. A fortune in wasteful spending can be saved if, say, a doctor can view the results of a patient’s medical scan on an electronic record from a separate facility rather than ordering new tests to be performed on the patient to get that same information. This is part of the reason the U.S. government has earmarked $36 billion to build out an infrastructure for electronic medical records for the country over the next several years.
LifeImage is targeting the billions of dollars spent in the U.S. on repeat medical images, specifically those that are performed because the physician who is ordering them can’t get her hands on the originals. Hospitals have been storing digital medical images on computer servers for more than a decade, yet if a patient wants a copy for their records or to share with other doctors they are typically given the images on a compact disk. These disks sometimes get damaged, and sharing them securely with other physicians can be cumbersome.
The company isn’t the only outfit working on technology for sharing medical images. For example, computing giant IBM (NYSE:[[ticker:IBM]]) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston are developing what is called the Radiology Theatre, an online venue where doctors can simultaneously view CT, MRIs, and other medical scans. Also, San Francisco-based healthcare services powerhouse McKesson (NYSE:[[ticker:MCK]]) has Web-based software that enables physicians to share radiology images and other medical data with their colleges.
