Case Study: University of Rochester achieves rapid cloud-based image sharing and eliminates the CD bottleneck with lifeIMAGE

Once vexed by image-sharing issues, University of Rochester Medical Center now looks to the cloud

University of Rochester was struggling with a time-consuming "CD factory" workflow and complex VPN connections between its 19 regional spokes and the quaternary medical center. To simplify image sharing and improve clinical decision-making, the organization chose lifeIMAGE’s cloud-based image-management system (including the LILA local app and LifeIMAGE sending apps) to replace CDs and brittle VPNs.

lifeIMAGE deployed lightweight sending apps and a browser-based viewer so spokes can upload DICOM studies to the cloud in about an hour of setup, and clinicians can send or view images in under five minutes versus the prior 45-minute process. The solution supported urgent triage (e.g., stroke and transplant cases), prevented duplicate scans and excess radiation, and scaled to URMC’s volume (projected ~580,000 reads and >58,000 foreign studies, with roughly 70% of inbound cases nominated into PACS), while providing real-time replication and rapid recovery.

University of Rochester

Jim Forrester

URMC’s Director of Enterprise Imaging Informatics