Ikonopedia RSNA Daily Updates
This page is updated daily with interesting articles, videos, and important events surrounding RSNA 2020. Don’t forget to enter our drawing for the Nintendo Switch!! Click the link below to enter.
Ikonopedia is giving away a Nintendo Switch – $500 value!!
Attend a Zoom Demo by December 31, 2020 to be entered into the drawing. Email kelly.martin@ikonopedia.com to setup a demo.
by Gabe Montemayor, Director of Client Services at Ikonopedia
Implementation in the Cloud
Being a cloud-based service has many benefits to us as a vendor and to our clients. There are several articles that have been written and analyzed that discuss how cloud-based services are cost effective, provide high-availability, and the versatile nature of the technology. This article will elaborate on versatility aspect of cloud-based services and discuss the benefits in regard to implementation, application updates, and integration
Being “Agile”
Let’s start with some obligatory buzzwords like “agile” and “pivot”. The problem with these buzzwords is that they’ve been used so much that the definition has become obscure. With a cloud-based service the technology does allow us to be more agile and pivot quickly based on our client’s needs. This is a fancy way of saying that we can quickly make application changes based on the needs of our clients in regard to workflow improvements and/or integrations with other vendors.
This is achievable because all customers are working from the latest application version at all times. This alleviates the need for a customer to upgrade to the latest version of software before a new feature will be available.
Speed and Success of New Implementations:
Being a cloud-based application, adding a new customer can be completed within hours or just a few days rather than weeks or months. One of our recent customers was actively using Ikonopedia within a week of contract signature. The entire cloud-based environment is owned and managed by our staff so we’re not relying on hardware planning, purchasing, shipping, and installation. The speed in which new customers can be brought live does not sacrifice the success and effectiveness of this new customer. Application training is still at the forefront of each implementation, with the continued support for the staff as they familiarize themselves with Ikonopedia and review workflows to improve efficiency.
Versatile Integrations:
Modern-day web-based APIs provide secure painless integrations. Ikonopedia is developed with advanced technologies to seamlessly integrate with partners at multiple workflow points. Using secure web API or traditional methods of communication security, Ikonopedia can partner with your application stack to provide a seamless solution that you can trust.
Ikonopedia has been able to successfully develop new integration points with other vendors within a couple days rather than weeks or months.
The word “success” is mentioned several times in this article because technology, speed, and agility are useless if it isn’t utilized successfully. Cloud-based technology allows Ikonopedia to quickly, efficiently, and successfully adapt and implement to meet the needs of our customers today instead of months from now. Ikonopedia is the trusted and proven leader in cloud-based breast reporting and patient tracking. We are at the forefront of technology and will continue that trend with emerging technologies.
Paws for RSNA 2020
It’s #FeelGoodFriday and we thought we’d share some of the joy in our lives – a few of our furry friends!
Besides just being cute and cuddly, pet ownership has real health benefits:
- They keep you fit – Talking them for walks and playing give you an easy excuse to regularly get active!
- They comfort you – Curling up beside you on the couch or a gentle head nudge, animals give unconditional love.
- They lower your stress levels – You just naturally calm your mind and get distracted from the daily grind when you are staring at your fishtank. Studies show that, in general, pet owners have lower blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels than those that do not have pets.
- They can help you make friends – How many times have you reached over to pet a dog that isn’t yours because they are so friendly or cute? Easy ice breaker!
- They can help improve your immune system – Dogs are the new probiotics! Studies show that the bacteria that dogs introduce in to your home help naturally build your immune system.
- They can help children from developing allergies – Yale researchers show that children exposed to animal micro-organisms in their first 3 months of life stimulate the immune system so that they are less sensitive later in life.
- They teach responsibility – For children, pets offer a way to learn practical skills like cleaning and food preparation but also empathy and nurturing.
- Companionship for individuals with disabilities – Whether it be the child that has difficulty communicating with adults, individuals with life altering diseases like epilepsy or someone suffering from PTSD, animals can provide comfort and sometimes notify caregivers of impending events.
So, give your pooch a pat on the head, tell them you love them and go play fetch! We can all use a little happy distraction these days!
Ikonopedia Analytics makes data work for customers
by Eden Gravis – Senior Software Developer at Ikonopedia
What if you could utilize your organization’s patient and exam data to provide better care and improve productivity? The Ikonopedia Analytics module makes it possible.
The module uses data already entered into the system (patient information, imaging exams, follow-up, etc) to generate a variety of BI-RADS® compliant static reports that give a high-level summary of key information.
Reports are available for both internal evaluation and external audits, such as MQSA compliance audits. Analytics makes it not only possible but straightforward and simple to determine exam counts over a period of time, rates of malignancy in certain patients, and a variety of other counts and trends.
Additionally, taking the idea of making data work for customers is now about to go a step further. Coming up on the horizon is a new and exciting addition to Ikonopedia’s analytics abilities – Ikonopedia Insight.
Insight will allow customers to dive even deeper into their existing patient and exam data than even the current Analytics report suite.
Through interactive, colorful, and frequently-updated visualizations, customers will be able to learn more about patient demographics (dial in to who may need more frequent screenings for follow up to improve quality of care, etc.), identify organizational operational trends (where staffing adjustments may be needed to address patient volume load), identify personnel and potential training gaps (who is under performing/over performing within the department) and so much more.
We are living in a world where access to specific data in a timely fashion is king. Whether it is normal business related tasks, deep dives for research or navigating the unusual and urgent needs of a pandemic, accessing detailed information in today’s environment with today’s technology should not be difficult. At Ikonopedia, we are constantly striving to have the software do the heavy lifting to make you and your staff as efficient as possible in whatever task you are engaged in.
Dev Process – How it happens
by Thomas Hjelm – Director of Software Development at Ikonopedia.
At Ikonopedia, we are constantly improving our software. Because we are hosted in the cloud, we can develop new features and deploy them to our customers much more rapidly than if we were installed on-premise. This rapid development cycle is one thing that sets Ikonopedia apart from its competitors. Our customers get frequent software updates with no disruption of their service. We wanted to give you a sneak peek at what it looks like for a feature to go from an idea to an actual component of the software that our customers use everyday.
First comes an idea. Sometimes we cook up an idea ourselves and sometimes it comes to us as a request from a customer. One feature request that came from customers was the ability to report locations as quadrants. Ikonopedia provides radiologists with a graphical user interface (GUI) for locating lesions within the breast. The user places targets on model images of the breast and Ikonopedia generates text for the location that will go into the report.
Ikonopedia’s locators are powerful and allow very specific targeting of a lesion, but we received feedback from radiologists that in certain scenarios they wanted to be less specific. They asked us if we could provide a way for them to locate a finding in a quadrant of the breast, rather than at a precise point in space. We started designing.
One of the cornerstones of our design philosophy is that the user interface should be clean, intuitive and easy-to-master. Our design team brainstormed several ideas and ultimately decided that the best choice UI-wise was a simple checkbox which would toggle between “quadrant mode” and “regular mode”. The checkbox itself takes up very little space, and with a carefully-worded label its function is obvious. Because it toggles
between two states, it’s easy to experiment with and observe its effect on the location text. Best of all, it doesn’t interfere or add complexity to the old way of locating findings. There’s nothing for the radiologist to unlearn to take advantage of the new feature.
After the design is decided, it gets passed on to the development team. The dev team determines which pieces of the application will require changes to implement the new feature. In this case, the “quadrant mode” checkbox will have to be added to the client-facing locators for all modalities (mammography, breast ultrasound, breast MRI and biopsy/procedure). New logic will have to be added to the module that generates the location text, to accommodate the new checkbox state. Finally measures have to be taken to ensure the new checkbox state persists when locations are carried over from one exam to another (for example, from a screening mammogram to a diagnostic ultrasound).
Now that the feature has been broken down into a concrete set of tasks, the development team works to implement that feature. When they are done, the feature is deployed to one of our staging servers where our QA team will test the new feature and communicate to the development team if changes are needed. For customer-requested features such as this one, we will often allow those customers to login to a staging server and try out the new feature themselves. They can get an early sneak peek at the feature that they helped bring to life.
Once the feature is approved by the QA team, it’s ready for production. And because Ikonopedia lives in the cloud, we can deploy it as soon as it’s ready and all Ikonopedia users will see the new feature the next time they login.
Benefits in the Cloud
by Todd Angyal — Chief Operating Officer and Vice President, Client Services at Ikonopedia.
Ikonopedia is the first and only cloud-based breast reporting and tracking system that is optimally developed to operate in the cloud. This modern development approach delivers next-generation reporting that is securely accessible from anywhere.
Today, everyone is talking about cloud-computing. While initial adoption was slow, resistance to this new platform lessoned as technology and security improvements eliminated most of those early concerns. Over time, companies began moving (or planning to move) their applications to the cloud — away from self-hosted applications.
From the start, Ikonopedia was designed and optimized for the cloud. We chose forefront design and development technologies to take advantage of the benefits of cloud computing. Let’s look at some of these advantages below:
Cost Effective: With a cloud-based solution, there is no local server hardware or server software licensing to purchase and support. For non-cloud or self-hosted applications, it is recommended to replace or upgrade your servers every 3 to 5 years to increase computing power and grow data storage.
With Ikonopedia, you no longer need to worry about costly server space and power requirements. Ikonopedia can minimize IT requirements and scale computing power as you grow to provide you with significant cost savings.
Improved Efficiency: Ikonopedia provides enterprise-grade infrastructure technologies to ALL customers.
- High availability
- Disaster recovery
- The latest cyber security and threat detection
- Secure, off-site data backup
- Ongoing networking and server updates
Small and large businesses can focus on other projects and not the challenges to keep your business running without interruption.
Enterprise Security: During the initial days of cloud adoption, security concerns were the main deterrent for moving to the cloud. Today, service providers are providing skilled IT experts and higher levels of security and data integrity to companies that cannot afford to do so on their own.
Ikonopedia prioritizes your data and understands its value to you. Your data is guarded by GCIA- and GCIH-certified security analysts that are staffed 24x7x365, using robust and effective toolsets for threat detection, prevention, and compliance.
Accessibility: Cloud-based solutions allow end-users to connect no matter where they are –anytime.
From radiologist reading rooms and tele-practices to remote mobile vans in the field, customers securely access Ikonopedia through any modern web browser via workstations, laptops, and tablets.
High Availability: Cloud-based technologies can offer highly available solutions that would be expensive as compared to on-premise solutions.
Ikonopedia includes high availability to all customers, it does not matter your size or region. We have you covered so your IT department does not have to worry about business continuity.
Decreased Risk of Data Loss: Backing-up data offsite provides better security.
Ikonopedia encrypts and backs-up your data before moving it to a secure, offsite location to increase
the protection from hackers, viruses, and other cyber-security problems.
Quicker Deployment: Cloud-based services can be deployed within hours or just a few days rather than the weeks or months it can take to plan, buy, build and implement with an internal IT infrastructure with internal personnel or contractors.
Ikonopedia can be deployed quickly without the procurement overhead, therefore decreasing your time to testing and go-live targets.
Application Updates: Planning, managing, and testing application updates for on-premise deployments are cumbersome and time consuming for your team. Cloud-based deployments are more efficient and less risky due to environmental variables.
Ikonopedia updates are frequent, meticulously tested, and delivered automatically ensuring all customers are on the latest features, updates, and BI-RADS® compliant language.
Versatile Integrations: Modern-day web-based APIs provide secure, painless integrations.
Ikonopedia is developed with advanced technologies to seamlessly integrate with partners at multiple workflow points. Using secure web API or traditional methods of communication security, Ikonopedia can partner with your application stack to provide the solution that you trust.
Ikonopedia is your trusted solution for breast reporting and tracking. We are the proven leader in cloud-based breast reporting and will continue to be at the forefront of emerging technologies.
KELLY MARTIN TALKS WITH DR. LISA PEÑA ABOUT THE LIFESAVING IMPORTANCE OF EARLY CANCER DETECTION
We often hear from our clients about how our software has positively impacted their daily lives – efficiency, safety, peace-of-mind are a few of the most common. But it is even more impactful when we hear how we affected a PATIENT’S life. Ikonopedia incorporates the ONLY web-based version of the Tyrer-Cuzick Risk Assessment. Because of that relationship, we also host the IBIS (International Breast Cancer Intervention Study) online Risk Assessment tool.
few months ago, we came across Dr. Lisa Pena’s Facebook post relaying how, at the age of 35, she was able to qualify for a mammogram which SAVED HER LIFE. Within one week, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy within six.
Kelly Martin, our National Sales Director, recently sat down with Dr. Pena through a Zoom session to speak with her about her experience and how access to this risk assessment tool changed a potentially tragic trajectory for her and her family.
Please check out the interview to hear her story firsthand!
Kelly Martin is the National Sales Director for Ikonopedia.
Diagnostic Ultrasound: Highlighting a Few Hidden Gems
In this short video, Eileen Smith explores Elastography, fremitus, and Motion findings in the Ikonopedia ultrasound modality.
Eileen Smith RT(R), RDMS is Director of Clinical Services at Ikonopedia.
