Biomedical engineers or the technology department have traditionally been responsible for managing the information systems of hospitals or medical imaging centers. However, the management and outsourcing of the management of these systems by technology companies are becoming a trend over time.

The capture, maintenance, and storage of digital medical images is a process that is far from the core of business in radiological centers or hospitals, having high costs in the acquisition and maintenance of hardware specified in the workstations and trained personnel on-site for training and support. This led to the implementation of technology departments funded by radiological centers.

Cloud-based technological solution systems and telemedicine have been an outlet for imaging centers because they are technically and economically attractive solutions. In addition, responsibility for IT security and infrastructure are shared between cloud-based information system providers and radiology departments. In conclusion, ensuring the optimal functioning of technology platforms in cloud-based systems, experimentation, and integration with artificial intelligence provided by medical technology companies has a much lower cost than traditional decentralized systems.

An explanation of the transition to technology companies with medical applications may be the optimal balance provided by a multidisciplinary research group in technology companies where specialized knowledge in medical image processing and traditional software development areas are combined, without neglecting that success will depend on the understanding of the skills of each of the members and the synergies formed.

Technological innovation and continuous improvement of processes in radiology centers is a priority to close or prevent openings in the quality of service provided compared to other imaging centers. On the other hand, little or no investment in research and innovation can condemn a medical technology company to be lagging and only benefit from technological advances when the other companies have developed them.

Sources:

Dennison, D. K., Coleman, R. M., Fallon, R., Toland, M., Kennedy, R., & Tomlin, B. (2021). There’sa New Sheriff in Town: When Enterprise IT Takes Over Imaging IT. Journal of Digital Imaging, 34(4), 974-985.

Sebastián Maglioni Mendoza
Senior Data Scientist, IMEXHS
Neuroimaging researcher, Universidad Nacional de Colombia