Centralized Real-Time Monitoring Center Provides Global Remote Incident Prevention Services

Global remote incident prevention (GRIP) services have been designed to provide state-of-the-art electronic monitoring of all Impax picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) worldwide, as well as linked devices from other suppliers. GRIP’s ultimate goal is to prevent unsettling downtime glitches in the healthcare environment.

The services, available worldwide, are initially based at the company’s central monitoring center in Rijswijk, a suburb of The Hague in the Netherlands. Other regional GRIP facilities are planned to open soon. “From Rijswijk, we have a continuous overview of all connected customer sites through each one’s main PACS server and other data sources,” said Ron van Zonneveld, regional service manager, Agfa HealthCare (Mortsel, Belgium), the developer of the product. “Constant oversight by our technical team allows them to quickly spot potential issues and take action, ranging from calling a local technician to, in many cases, intervening remotely to correct the situation.”

Monitoring is performed using highly specific system dashboards providing color-coded warnings that let technicians access the details of an alert for greater accuracy.

GRIP consists of three key building blocks--remote monitoring of the complete infrastructure; event management, a unique feature that facilitates fast action remotely when issues arise; and event reporting of all warnings with instant graphical displays and historical records of past events.

“Fast responses fostered by GRIP will prevent many disruptions from happening, providing greater overall system availability, which positively impacts the provision of high-quality healthcare,” added Frits Paauw, global service design and transition manager, Agfa HealthCare. “It’s one less thing busy doctors, clinicians, and administrators have to worry about, and that is exactly what our service vision is about: providing peace of mind to our customers resulting in better delivery of patient care.”

GRIP supports Agfa HealthCare’s radiology information technology (IT) and integrated cardiovascular solutions, and interfaces with select products and systems from other suppliers.

The services are also “future-ready” to accommodate new technologies and system developments as they are introduced, to easily grow within the customer’s constantly changing environment.

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