Fujifilm Australia expands secure Public and Private sector medical image sharing during COVID-19 response

Melbourne, Australia, (June 26, 2020) As part of the public health response to COVID-19, Western Health asked Fujifilm Australia, part of the Fujifilm Group a world leader in Medical Imaging informatics, to assist in providing an increase in the number of connections between Victorian public hospitals and private radiology providers via its fast and secure medical image sharing network. 

During March 2020, addressing the crisis, Fujifilm Australia provided its Synapse medical image sharing system and expertise on a complimentary basis to rapidly respond to the situation and the pandemic planning by hospitals. Fujifilm Australia began connecting additional radiology providers to the Synapse medical image sharing network which allowed the public hospitals to send patients to private providers who could image the patient at a location outside of the Western Health hospitals.  

Prior imaging from the patient can be sent to the private practice for comparison. The private radiology provider is then able to send the newly acquired images and report back to the public hospital. Kathy MacDonald Acting Operations Manager of Medical Imaging and Pathology at Western Health commented on the improved network experience, “Western Health has been very grateful to Fujifilm for providing connectivity allowing direct image transfer between public hospitals and private providers. This connectivity has enabled multiple imaging providers to provide seamless patient care during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” 

The Synapse medical image sharing network has been operated in the region by Fujifilm Australia for over 10 years to connect rural health with medical experts from metropolitan hospitals. Fujifilm Australia’s Synapse system allows radiology providers to share patient images with public hospitals in a fast and secure manner and replaces the requirement to physically transfer media such as CDs or DVDs. 

The Synapse medical image sharing system integrates with existing PACS systems across multiple vendors and modalities using fast broadband connections to transfer medical images quickly, Fujifilm Australia’s Medical Informatics Business Manager Matthew Park explains, “The Synapse medical image sharing network is hosted in one of Australia’s most interconnected data centres for maximum speed across the country with round-the-clock security and advanced data encryption. Synapse medical image sharing has facilitated sharing of over 220 Million images in the last 5 years. On average 120,000 images per day are sent via the Synapse network.”