Agfa HealthCare and Worldline, acting as a consortium, have won the SIMRAL (Alsatian regional medical imagery services) project to provide a bundle of shared medical imaging services for the entire region of Alsace. The SIMRAL project aims to archive and share more than 1 million imaging exams per year, among 53 facilities in Alsace.
Alsace e-santé, the coordinator for a grouped procurement for the SIMRAL project, will deploy a solution for sharing medical images across the region, along with consolidated functions for VNA (vendor-neutral archiving), image management with PACS (picture archiving and communication system) and RIS (radiology information system), together with Agfa HealthCare and Worldline.
SIMRAL, with the active support of the Alsace Regional Health Agency (ARS Alsace), aims to enable the sharing and archiving of more than a million imaging exams each year. Five healthcare organisations are already committed to take part in a pilot phase that will begin January 2014.
Overall, 53 healthcare enterprises and radiology practices in Alsace, which are members of the SIMRAL purchasing group, will subscribe to the service bundle.
‘Essentially, with SIMRAL, facilities will share a solution comprised of various services. Each adherent may sign up to services based on their specific needs, using a pay-per-use principle. In this way, regional professionals have access to the most up-to-date imaging technology. One major challenge will be image sharing to develop the regional telemedicine projects.
'We chose the Agfa HealthCare/Worldline consortium for the quality of their offering, the methodology and their ability to deliver the necessary competencies for this innovative project,’ said Christine Lecomte, project director, Alsace e-santé.
Dr Pascal Charles, manager of Alsace e-santé and independent pulmonologist, explained: ‘SIMRAL will also make it possible to eliminate unnecessary examinations and to thus decrease the risks associated with cumulative radiation dose and use of contrast agents.’
‘SIMRAL represents an ambitious challenge for Agfa HealthCare. We will use our experience with major international projects to ensure its success. The French market can also benefit from these advances, which create innovation in the way they are used. The association with our partner Worldline offers a perfect complement to meet the specific needs of patients' care,’ says Ingrid Merckx, general manager, Agfa HealthCare France.
