Compressus switches focus to OEMs

Compressus, a developer of technology that connects disparate healthcare information technologies, has changed market strategies. It now prefers original equipment manufacturers as its customer base.

At the recent Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) meeting, the company showcased the Systems Management Dashboard (SMD) and the Virtual Worklist, components of its MEDxConnect system technology, as new stand-alone versions that OEMs can fit to virtually any PACS, HIS, or RIS product.

The SMD provides enterprise-wide monitoring, analysis, summarized graphic and tabular viewing, detailed data, and alarm notices for medical imaging activities. Using the SMD, administrators receive a visual summary of operations across their enterprises.

The Virtual Worklist pulls together information from diverse modalities and IT systems inside and outside of radiology to create a single, automated task list that delivers specific information. An example would be a work list that can pull up the patient's prior mammograms and pathology reports while a new mammogram is performed, said Janine Broda, vice president and general manager for the company's MEDxConnect Medical Solutions Division.

This kind of intelligent monitoring and data gathering are needed, Broda said, because of all the varied systems now compiling patient data that were introduced by a multitude of competitors.

"When these technologies were first adopted, there were only a few competitors in this space," she said. "Now there are many of them and they don't play together very well."

The company had been installing versions of the SMD and the Virtual Worklist in end- user sites as part of its direct sales efforts. A recent deal with Object Forge, a contractor with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, marked the company's move into the OEM marketplace.

The stand-alone OEM versions of the SMD and the Virtual Worklist include a developer's toolkit and OEM documentation. In addition, Compressus' engineers work with OEMs to connect the technologies.

The volume of data being produced demands such software, according to Broda. The SMD monitors workflow in healthcare institutions to indicate the efficiency of various operations, to highlight bottlenecks, and to sound alarms when performance falls below preset levels. Using the communications protocols of each system, the SMD keeps track of scanners, as well as PACS, HIS, and RIS systems.

"Every PACS and RIS company, integrator, and lab company is a potential partner of ours," Broda said. "It's a better strategy to have the OEM selling the product in conjunction with us than to have us compete with them."