Image Exchange in the Middle East: a Survey

Developing an enterprise approach to imaging technology rather than a radiology focus has recently increased. The communicator needs to be aware of this shift. The Middle East countries participated in the survey have confirmed the following major benefits of Medical Image Exchange: ✔. Fast access to both image and report; ✔. Enable tele-services for second opinion, consulting and reporting; ✔. Improve patient journey, workflow and diagnosis; ✔. Allowed more patient engagement to be in place. The Middle East countries that participated in this survey have agreed on the following shared challenges regarding Medical Imaging Exchange: ✔. Lack of enterprise imaging governance at the early stage of implementation. It will organize the who, when, and how. In addition, any fees and or payment involved for physicians; ✔. Infrastructure availability to handle such large volume of data. Growing from mega-byte to petabyte per year is challenge for infrastructure. Cloud against On Premises-Installation implementation model; ✔. Interoperability and integration to connect multi specialties from different systems. In addition, how far existing systems are ready for that. A standard-based framework is mature for image exchange, but what follows for other domains? There is a need to move beyond radiology images so as to include images from pathology, ophthalmology, and dermatology. There are other countries in the region requiring guidance, support, and funding to move forward from the compact disc into internet-based interoperable image exchange. This should be considered part of the World Health Organization and the United Nation development to the region in the healthcare sector.