The rapid evolution of technology is transforming everything about the way we live in the 21st century at an astonishing rate. Nowhere is this more evident – and more important to our well-being – than in healthcare. Ideas and possibilities are turning into launched innovations in every aspect of diagnosis and treatment at an accelerated pace that was unimaginable just 20 years ago.
But the more we invent, the more complex the web of technologies underpinning our inventions becomes. There is little market tolerance for siloed capabilities – they may shine briefly but fizzle out fast as soon as a better approach comes along. The best creations flourish through supporting and connected technologies and the knowledge sharing that goes along with them. I offer as an example the story of how Guerbet and InterSystems came together to enable the digital transformation of Guerbet’s imaging contrast media offering.
At Guerbet, a leader in medical imaging worldwide, offering a comprehensive range of pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and digital and AI solutions, we have made significant advancements in contrast media injection management with successive iterations over time of our Contrast&Care® product.
But the ecosystem in which our product lives, which is the modern imaging center, has exploded with complexity in recent years. Imaging modalities such as CT and MRI each have their own data types and standards, as do other technologies such as PACS for digital archiving and RIS for patient data collection and workflow management.
Add to that landscape the interoperability requirements of the now ubiquitous electronic medical record and you have a perfect storm of data management challenges. Effectiveness in this environment isn’t just about systems talking to each other. Today, complementary digital solutions are necessary and have a direct impact on patient safety and care delivery.
Not to sound biased, but I strongly believe that Guerbet has among the world’s most innovative and talented product development groups focused on helping clinical teams to optimize imaging contrast media management for the betterment of patient care. But when it came to solving for the data management and interoperability requirements of today’s technology-diverse imaging center, we knew that was not in our wheelhouse, to borrow an American expression.
So we looked around for a technology partner to help. We initially met with InterSystems because we knew they specialized in industry-leading approaches to data management and interoperability. But the more we learned about their capabilities, the more we could also see the value of their expertise in the areas of cybersecurity and cloud deployment, which we knew were critical for our future direction.
We chose the InterSystems IRIS for Health™ platform on which to optimize the deployment of our Contrast&Care solution. Through the course of working with the InterSystems team on this project, we have not only achieved our specific technical goals, we have learned and grown as a medical technology innovator because of the collaborative relationships we’ve built and because of the exceptional level of customer support provided by the InterSystems team.
By going beyond the expected deliverables of a technology vendor, InterSystems has worked to establish a true partnership with us which I believe has expanded the knowledge and elevated the capabilities of both our companies to excel at meeting our respective market needs.
Now that I have experienced this type of collaborative approach first-hand, I am convinced that it will be the key going forward to the creation of complementary and connected technologies that will successfully drive innovation and improvements in healthcare. And this is now more important than ever.
Read the Guerbet Success Story here.
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About the Author
Adan Martin is head of strategy for new business for Guerbet. He is an experienced multi-cultural product strategy and development leader with significant experience in a broad range of healthcare sectors. A bioengineer by background, Adan is dedicated to helping organizations innovate, develop, and commercialize health technology solutions in a global context.
