QStar Healthcare Debuts DICOM Publisher and SntryDICOM Products

QStar Healthcare, the medical technology division of QStar Technologies, Inc., in archiving and CD/DVD publication, announced the debut of two new storage solutions aimed at any healthcare organisation handling and distributing patient images. At ECR 2010, Europe’s largest radiological congress, QStar will demonstrate DICOM Publisher, which allows the secure distribution of medical images, and SntryDICOM, which provides organisations with a very flexible PACS-neutral archive.

                SntryDICOM
 
Today the need to maintain control of patient electronic records along with the fear of a confidentiality and security breach are driving the adoption of more secure distribution solutions. For a large number of medical organisations the reputation relies on a high level of trust and a single breach of confidentiality can cause irreparable damage even to a strong brand. As a result, the new release of DICOM Publisher includes sophisticated AES encryption that protects the security of image studies written to CDs, DVDs or Blu-ray media for distribution to patients or within a medical facility.

Driven by new European data security legislation, QStar has already signed major contracts with leading healthcare providers in the UK and Italy to deploy DICOM Publisher using the new encryption features. Access to encrypted images can only be gained using a unique media password (PIN) or through a trusted third party via a public key / private key infrastructure (PKI). DICOM Publisher offers a highly secure distribution solution that helps hospitals and clinics reduce internal security risks while meeting their legal obligations for digital data protection.
 
SntryDICOM provides a PACS vendor-independent and storage technology-neutral image archive solution with a fully-compliant DICOM 3.0 interface. An open PACS archive gives end users increased flexibility when upgrading and migrating old PACS systems, potentially allowing them to realise significant savings. Based on QStar’s established enterprise archive platform, SntryDICOM manages the lifecycle of images across multiple storage tiers, creating a highly resilient and reliable archiving strategy. The new solution provides a platform that maintains archive continuity as older PACS systems are replaced.
 
“The release of DICOM Publisher and SntryDICOM parallels two recent trends in digital medical imaging,” explained Dave Thomson, senior VP of sales at QStar. “The first is the significant growth in data security legislation specific to medical records and images which emerged initially in Europe and is spreading to North America and other geographies. Our customers tell us that DICOM Publisher perfectly addresses the need for extra security when distributing patient studies, and our most recent project wins are further proof that our new encryption functionality is hitting the mark. The second major trend is the replacement of aging PACS systems; many medical facilities now realise how awkward and expensive it is to migrate from an old proprietary archive and are looking for a PACS vendor-neutral alternative. A neutral archive strategy using SntryDICOM gives hospitals much greater flexibility, enables sharing, and eliminates expensive dependencies on a specific vendor.”