Grid Computing

IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences | Grid Medical Archive Solution

• Improve patient care by ensuring fast, on demand access to medical images in-house, cross campus or across the country
• Eliminate data silos and reduce costs by optimizing storage utilization
• Ensure business continuity and address regulatory disaster recovery considerations
• Lower total cost of ownership with solutions that deliver cost-effective file sharing across multicampus sites, and seamlessly interoperate with installed technologies
• Support infrastructure resiliency with end to end Storage virtualization tools that enable a more dynamic organization

As doctors and patients demand more frequent scans, the number of medical images is growing exponentially—dramatically increasing storage and administrative costs for providers. Medical facilities that haven't yet transitioned to digital formats must grapple with the time and labor costs of handling film. Those enterprises that have made the transition to picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) face exploding storage volumes, rising expenses and slowing image retrieval time, even as pressure grows to retain physicians, meet tightening margins and provide remote access to patient images.

The IBM Healthcare and Life Science's Grid Medical Archive Solution (GMAS) employs an unparalleled combination of features to cost-effectively deliver enterprise-wide medical image access with real-time business continuity.

GMAS combines IBM's Systems Storage and IBM System x™ servers with IBM System Storage™ Multilevel Grid Access Manager Software (Grid Access Manager Software) software on an open-source operating system to deliver a flexible and scalable virtualized storage solution for mid to large healthcare organizations and hospital networks.

The solution can help you securely store and efficiently transmit diagnostic images and documents within your enterprise or across multisite facilities. It combines the power of grid computing with intelligent information lifecycle management to optimize the storage of large volumes of fixed-content data. Further, it complements and extends existing assets by providing interoperability between high-performance grid-based storage and existing PACS. The end result is an ability to deliver patient images wherever they're needed-at the moment they're needed-which can lead to improved diagnosis and treatment.

IBM has extensive experience in helping the healthcare industry overcome the challenges of managing medical data. Through its many engagements with hospital networks, IBM understands the technical, regulatory and operational issues of PACS, and it continues to pursue cutting-edge innovations to lower the cost and improve the quality of healthcare delivery. IBM Grid computing solutions combine leading information technology, tools and services in a flexible, customized format designed to help you achieve your business goals.

	Hospital ditches EMC Centera for long-term archiving

For small to medium healthcare and life sciences businesses, GMAS is delivered in pre-priced packaged GMAS Bundles beginning with a capacity of 6TB and that can scale to 32TBs, supporting affordable entry into the solution with investment protection as complexity of Disaster Recovery plans expand and exponential image retention requirements develop. For all configurations available, minimal onsite integration means a simple installation and a manageable low cost entry point that can easily scale to additional sites as organizational needs change.