As one of the fastest growing segments of the digital universe, healthcare data is projected to top 2.3 zettabytes this year, growing at a rate of 48 percent each year. Medical imaging accounts for more than 70 percent of clinical data, adding terabytes of new data each day. Its effective storage and management are an ongoing challenge and escalating cost. New technologies are providing a framework for securely storing, managing and moving medical images, while balancing the needs for clinician access and cost efficiency.
Enterprise imaging remains a catalyst for advancements in health IT, and the future of healthcare relies on effectively managing imaging and other data. Yet many healthcare organizations continue to lag behind other industries in the next-generation technologies that can help them effectively harness their data to better diagnose, treat or cure disease. With the move to value-based care, worldwide organizations have collaborated to create an infrastructure framework to support an enterprise imaging strategy.
ILM, or Image Lifestyle Management, is an open loop process that governs how images are acquired, disseminated and stored (or disposed of) over time, based on the business value of clinical image information and how that value changes over time. In other words, a good ILM framework considers not only the expected data lifestyle, but the data characteristics needed for successful data management.
Understanding the A-D-Ds (acquisition, dissemination, disposal) of ILM is instrumental to its strategic implementation, and provides the foundation for lasting value. Effectively deployed, ILM helps institutions optimize IT investment, enhance patient care, optimize infrastructure performance and maximize flexibility.
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