2021. 8. 5.
Partnership enables new digital business model for Siemens Healthineers
Important step in combating shortage of skilled radiology technologists
Erlangen / Goppingen, August 5, 2021: Siemens Healthineers has recently started offering its customers WeScan[1]. WeScan is a new service leveraging TeamViewer’s connectivity technology, that helps healthcare providers to perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations if they lack qualified radiology staff. With the WeScan service, customers may seek access to a pool of skilled remote imaging technologists who help operate the MRI scanner using syngo Virtual Cockpit, the remote scanning software of Siemens Healthineers. As Siemens Healthineers assists customers via WeScan from outside their own IT-network, real-time data transmission across the internet and high security standards are central requirements. Therefore, Siemens Healthineers has formed a new partnership with TeamViewer. TeamViewer’s remote connectivity technology is now incorporated as part of the WeScan service offering because of its high security standards, powerful data transfer performance, and ease of operation.
Thanks to the interaction of TeamViewer with syngo Virtual Cockpit[2], and the global remote connectivity infrastructure of Siemens Healthineers, Smart Remote Services[3], it is now possible to support the scanning process on demand from outside a customer network meeting all the relevant security and performance requirements. WeScan generates high volumes of data that have to be exchanged between IT networks in real time. This is where the TeamViewer technology plays out its strengths as known across industries for various use cases. Additionally, TeamViewer’s Conditional Access feature enables rule-based and very granular access management and helps achieve the degree of security that’s vital in the healthcare industry.
“TeamViewer has been an important partner for many years,” says Wolfgang Heimsch, Head of Customer Services at Siemens Healthineers. “The number of use cases in a hospital environment for which we need to gain secure, high-performance access to our systems is on the rise. That makes our partnership with TeamViewer increasingly important, and we believe it offers great potential.”
Lukas Baur, EVP Solution Sales at TeamViewer, comments: “With WeScan, Siemens Healthineers is offering a highly innovative service that provides genuine added value for its customers. We’re pleased that TeamViewer can make a crucial technological contribution to this novel solution, and thus also to the further digitalization of the healthcare sector. The shortage of highly qualified employees is a huge challenge for many industries. We recognize that remote-access solutions can be a key element in overcoming this challenge, since both the employees and the devices to be operated are globally interconnected, and this means they can be leveraged much more efficiently now.”
Siemens Healthineers has been using TeamViewer for several years on many tens of thousands of its imaging and laboratory diagnostic devices worldwide, such as MRs and CTs, in hospitals and doctors’ offices to remotely maintain them and support clinical staff around the world. With WeScan, the company is now moving a step forward, making additional services available to improve device capacity utilization and expand patient access to healthcare, in addition to the established remote support for maintenance and repair scenarios.
[1] WeScan is not commercially available in all countries and/or for all modalities. If the services are not marketed in countries due to regulatory or other reasons, the service offering cannot be guaranteed. Please contact your local Siemens Healthineers organization for further details.
[2] syngo Virtual Cockpit is not commercially available in all countries. Due to regulatory reasons its future availability cannot be guaranteed. Preconditions: Expert-i enabled modality from Siemens Healthineers; Appropriately trained personnel operating under applicable federal, state, and local laws as to the specific imaging modality(ies), including radiation and contrast.
[3] A connection to Smart Remote Services (SRS) infrastructure is required. SRS has advanced security measures in place and is compliant with the ISO 27001:2013 Standard for Information Security.