Kodak Partners in Finnish e-Health Project

An extensive project funded by five hospital districts and the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, RATU combines the imaging and information systems of Lappi, Länsi-Pohja, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, Keski-Pohjanmaa, and Kainuu hospital districts. Furthermore, the Lausuntotori e-portal enables inter-regional delivery and consultation of x-ray images over the Internet. The system centralizes patient information, improving administration and improving the quality of treatment. Kodak is the software and systems delivery partner of the project. Systems integration is performed by Finnish information technology (IT) company, Mawell Ltd. (Oulu, Finland).

With the RATU project, the hospital districts' consultations, appointments, and x-rays can be transferred using a centralized system. The first phase is to be completed during the first quarter of 2006, when all the Northern region's central hospitals and four pilot healthcare centers will be connected. All the healthcare centers will be able to store, download, and view patient images irrespective of site. The Lausuntotori portal makes it possible to perform consultations over the Internet, providing a forum for all specialists in the region to view and consult patient images, irrespective of their location.

"With RATU phase one, all radiological examination bookings and examination information will be automatically transferred to the right place at the right time. Lausuntotori is also an important feature; with it, coordinating the utilization of specialist resources within the entire region becomes possible,” commented RATU project manager, Kari Alatalo.

All the Northern region's image, biosignal, and text data of patients are stored in a central archive, a step toward a national Finnish patient record archive.




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