Irish Cancer Centre links to US

The Beacon Hospital Cancer Centre has been launched in Ireland by US-based University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre and will be one of the first cancer centres to use remote data management software.

The Dublin-based cancer centre will provide Ireland’s population with access to state-of-the-art oncology IT including hi-tech radiation therapy and the ability to access data remotely, linked to University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre’s (UPMC) main network.

UPMC Cancer Centre’s director of business services and chief business officer, Jeffrey Shogan, said: “By linking the Beacon Hospital Cancer Centre with our network of UPMC Cancer Centres, we are able to provide cost-effective and technologically advanced radiation therapy locally to the residents of Ireland’s capital and largest city.”

Using technology from America, the Beacon Hospital Cancer Centre will provide patients with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT).

Deb Salava, director of IT at UPMC told E-Health Europe how it works: “The therapy is connected to a central information system which is linked to the main database in the States. The main database links community-based satellite locations to a hub facility, which in turn stores all the information under one roof in Pittsburgh.

“The network allows highly trained medical physicists based in Pittsburgh to share information and expertise with radiation specialists at satellite centres when developing highly complex radiation treatment plans for individual patients.”

UPMC has provided Beacon Hospital with Europe’s first Trilogy TX image-guided radiosurgery system from Varian Medical Systems.

Using the system, the radiologists will be able to work with three-dimensional images, to help make the delivery of radiation more accurate.

The ability to view this ‘oncology-specific electronic medical record’ and send images to be viewed remotely by others on the network makes this the perfect option for the hospital.

The centre is the second UPMC international cancer centre; another already operates in Waterford, Ireland. Similar schemes are also in place in Italy and Qatar.

Chuck Bogosta, executive vice president at UPMC Cancer Centres, said: “The opening of the centre in Dublin is another milestone in UPMC’s efforts to export our leading healthcare services around the globe.”

The hospital was opened on 14 May by Ireland’s minister for health and children, Mary Harney.

Links

UPMC

Beacon Hospital

Varian Medical Systems