In the Enterprise Imaging era where are we with PACS?

Michael J. Cannavo is known industry-wide as the PACSman. After several decades as an independent PACS consultant, he worked as both a strategic accounts manager and solutions architect with two major PACS vendors. He has now made it back safely from the dark side and regularly shares his observations on AuntMinnie.com.

PARCA eNews spoke to Mr. Cannavo by phone to get his perspective on the status of PACS systems and PACS administrators as medical imaging has evolved and moves into Enterprise Imaging.

His healthcare consulting services for end users include PACS optimization services, system upgrade and proposal reviews, contract reviews, and other areas. The PACSman is also working with imaging and IT vendors developing market-focused messaging as well as sales training programs. He can be reached at pacsman@ix.netcom.com or by phone at 407-359-0191.

SIIM 2019 wraps up with continuing upbeat atmosphere

Photo courtesy Aunt Minnie

PARCA eNews – July 1, 2019 – The SIIM 2019 Annual Meeting held June 26-28 at the Gaylord Rockies Resort in Aurora, Colorado continued the success of last year’s meeting based on the number of attendees and vendors. 

It also continued the upbeat atmosphere of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) that had been severely depressed in the dark days of the 2008 recession, according to PARCA founder Herman Oosterwijk, who attends the meeting every year.

Who owns patient data?

PARCA eNews – June 27, 2019 – That was the topic of a panel discussion on the ethical issues of Artificial Intelligence in radiology at the recent SIIM 2019 conference, held June 26-28.

At the heart of the discussion is the need for patient data for development of algorithms for artificial intelligence. AI requires data, a lot of it, consequently vendors developing proprietary AI solutions for healthcare are beginning to pay for it and hospitals are more than willing to sell de-identified patient data. The problem with imaging data is whether it can truly be de-identified.

Another imaging source on the way?

PARCA eNews – July 1, 2019 – Engineers have demonstrated feasibility to guide a tiny robotic capsule inside the colon to take micro-ultrasound images.

The pill-sized device, called the Sonopill, being developed in a collaboration of researchers at the University of Leeds in London and the University of Glasgow in Scotland uses magnetic forces and artificial intelligence to maneuver the device through the gut.

Making endoscopes obsolete

PARCA eNews – July 17, 2019 – Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have demonstrated a new technique for using ultrasound to non invasively take optical images inside the body. The researchers say the method has the potential to eliminate the need for endoscopic examinations.

The researchers describe the method in a paper published in the journal Light: Science and Applications. Led by Maysam Chamanzar and Matteo Giuseppe Scopelliti, the team demonstrated using ultrasound to create a virtual "lens" within the body, rather than implanting a physical lens. 

Reports and complaints about data protection nearly double in one year

PARCA eNews – July 9, 2019 – Helpline and written advice services topped 471,224 contacts in 2018-19 according to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), that compared to 283,272 contacts the year before, a 66 percent increase. Data protection complaints filed with the ICO more than doubled up from 21,019 in 2017-18 to 41,661 in the current reporting period.

Europe is serious about enforcing the GDPR

PARCA eNews – July 9, 2019 – The UK’s Information Comissioner’s Office (ICO) the UKs independent policing arm for the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR regulation that rolled out many revisions to the privacy regulations launched last year has already levied a fine totaling $230 million on British Airways.

Now the ICO is proposing a fine of $123 million for Marriott’s breach involving 339 million customer records.

Healthcare needs to adopt zero trust strategy and software-defined perimeters

Brigadier General Gregory Touhill (ret.)

Brigadier General Gregory J. Touhill (ret.), CISSP, CISM, serves as President of Cyxtera Federal Group, which offers data center services and cybersecurity capabilities to federal agencies and departments. Prior to retiring, Brigadier General Touhill served as a U.S. Air Force officer and combat veteran in several commands around the world including U.S. Transportation, Central, and Strategic Commands, and led the creation of the Air Force’s cyberspace operations training programs. He was appointed by President Barack Obama as the nation’s first ever Federal Chief Information Security Officer in 2016, where he was responsible for ensuring that the proper set of digital security policies, strategies and practices were adopted across all government agencies. He is a sought-after speaker and author within the information technology industry, where he is best-known for his “Cybersecurity for Executives: A Practical Guide,” which is used widely at colleges and universities across the country. He is also a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College, where he teaches Cyber Risk Management. PARCA eNews spoke with him about cyberthreats to healthcare.

Forescout report finds healthcare IT cybersecurity lacking

PARCA eNews – May 15, 2019 – In a survey of more than 430,000 devices on 1500 medical virtual local area networks (VLANs), Forescout Technologies found that healthcare IT continues to increase in diversity while too many networks continue to rely on legacy Windows operating systems and lack sufficient segmentation strategies.

Forescout Technologies, a provider of device visibility and control services for large enterprises and government agencies, issued its report of healthcare cybersecurity May 15, 2019.

Top cybersecurity challenges in healthcare

PARCA eNews – May 17, 2019 – A survey commissioned by Infoblox to see what has changed in the two years since WannaCry, shows healthcare IT organizations are very confident in their ability to respond to cyber attacks.

Infoblox is a network security company specializing in DDI with its Secure Cloud-Managed Network Services. The company commissioned the survey to follow up on its survey last year to look into how healthcare organizations are adapting to protect themselves from cyber threats.

The new survey found that healthcare industry leaders have taken notice of major events such as WannaCry and have gone as far as to make cybersecurity a leading priority.  

The research revealed: