INFINITT Healthcare, a medical imaging and information-specialized company, develops, sells and maintains a Picture Archiving & Communication System (PACS) which manages digitalized image of medical institutions. At the same time, the company is exporting PACS systems to 29 countries around the world through technological development and the development of overseas markets on the foundation of expertise accumulated for 14 years.
"INFINITT PACS is a cutting-edge medical imaging and information solutions," said Lee Sun-joo, CEO of INFINITT Healthcare. "Our advanced solution enables doctors and nurses to check and observe digitalized medical images taken with equipment at medical institutions such as X-rays, MRIs and CTs through networks at hospitals."
When using the PACS, the imaging information is digitally stored when it is taken. Medical staff can immediately check the information, working fast and decreasing waiting time for patients. It is possible to exchange medical videos between hospitals. Xelis, a 3D diagnosis support system, is a product to which INFINITT Healthcare's 3D medical visual technology is applied. No product can match Xelis in Korea. Xelis helps doctors diagnose quickly and accurately by showing 3D videos of the heart, colon, anus, and brain.
INFINITT PACS considerably improves a diagnosis environment where a 2D video-based PACS and 3D work stations are used. INFINITT PACS is an integrated platform which makes it possible to share videos within a hospital or between hospitals. The solution, as an Enterprise Image Management System (EIMS) covers not only image data from clinical and shooting equipment such as equipment for internal medicine, ophthalmology, radiation oncology and dentistry but also non-visual data such as ECGs and patient monitoring data.
"Doctors can diagnose diseases of patients as it has the PACS Viewer specialized by medical sectors, realizes computer-assisted diagnoses specialized in diseases in the heart, the colon, the liver and the lung and utilizes 3D/4D rendering technology by using INFINITT PACS," Lee added. "INFINITT PACS is an advanced next-generation product where various types of server-based computing technology and cloud computing technology are combined to process big image information fast and in preparation for diagnosis work flows' expansion into a smart mobile environment. About 70% of medical institutions with PACS systems in Korea are making use of our PACS solution."
Of late, INFINITT Healthcare acquired the approval of its Mobile PACS Application for Android-based mobile devices from the Korean FDA. The Mobile PACS software enables smartphones and tablet PCs to show visual medical information. In March, the company received the approval of a similar application for iOS-based smart devices. This Android version sends visual medical information faster, helping doctors work more efficiently and protecting personal information by encoding it. In particular, the application will be loaded in a Galaxy Tab, a tablet PC of Samsung Electronics to be used at medical institutions.
In the case of the third specialized general medical institutions (usually hospitals affiliated with medical schools), 33 hospitals including the hospitals of Seoul National University and Korea University are using INFINITT Healthcare products, resulting in a market share of 75%. Since the commercialization of INFINITT Healthcare's PACS solution in 1998, the company has been steadily topping the market. For information, Korea has about 1,500 hospitals. Among them, 1,100 hospitals are using PACS.
The success of INFINITT Healthcare in the Korean market has been attributable to ceaseless R&D investment, reflecting customers' suggestions on product development and fast service. INFINITT Healthcare began to export its products in 2000. The company has supplied its solutions to about 930 medical institutions in the US, Japan, Germany, Italy, China, Taiwan, and the Middle East. The company has ten overseas corporations. In 2010, the company's exports exceeded US$10 million. The accumulated exports from 2003 to June, 2011 surpassed US$46 million. As of 2010, its share in the world market stood at 1.6%. Its market shares in the US, Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia stood at 1.5%, 3%, 20% and 25%, respectively. KLAS, a US consulting company for customer reviews of medical solutions, ranked INFINITT Healthcare first in the reviews for two years in a row from 2009 to 2010 by hospitals with less than 200 beds.
Of late, Anna Jaques Hospital (AJH), a 123-bed community hospital in Massachusetts, decided to upgrade its PACS by using an INFINITT Healthcare solution. AJH was an early proponent of medical information exchange using the Internet and integrated electronic networks. The hospital has taken a leadership position in exchanging health information between the hospital, its inhouse physicians (emergency room physicians, hospitalists, radiologists, and anesthesiologists) and referring physician offices.
They first implemented PACS in 2004 and recently renewed their commitment to INFINITT by upgrading to the INFINITT G3 PACS solution. They stand out as one of the few hospitals that have implemented electronic medical records and have the ability to bring up key images along with patient data and reports. INFINITT Accent allows Meditech EMR users at AJH to launch the INFINITT PACS viewer from the within the patient's medical record.
As the Korean PACS market is about 1% of the world market, INFINITT Healthcare has no choice but to make a foray overseas. "Fortunately, our products are highly competitive in the global market," Lee said. "So we can steadily expand our overseas markets. We have entered 29 countries and will expand this figure to 50. With the development of next-generation products, we will speed up our global business by supplying our products to big hospitals in developed nations. We will also tap into overseas markets of hospital information systems and electronic medical records."
