Wake up to Workflow
We help hospitals by simplifying their PACS workflow

  • Image viewing prior to loading onto PACS - exoPACS
  • Sharing images and reports electronically - bbRad
  • PACS Business Continuity - bcService


Are you ready for PACS Data Sharing? Really?
PACS Teams can avoid the error-prone manual work that is required to import & integrate both images and reports into your PACS. They can do this by using our exoPACS as a 'holding pen' for Trust-wide viewing of foreign images. Thus only imaging needed permanently locally needs to be imported into PACS and RIS.

exoPACS can also bring together multiple disparate PACS or DICOM archives into a single view, for example breastscreening, cardiac or legacy PACS. Whilst we do this using IHE XDS, our technology allows this to be applied even to non-XDS legacy archives.

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bbRad from Cypher IT is an image exchange and report router for securely sharing images and reports between hospitals. It is well established having been in live clinical use since 2006.


We started with 'push' data sharing, and will offer 'pull' sharing using IHE XDS in early 2010. Yet even at Nov 2009, bbRad is the only managed solution delivering nation-wide NHS to NHS sharing.

In addition our Full Workflow Module automatically looks up the local patient number, creates the exam on RIS, and then sends the images & report to PACS, making the study appear correctly in PACS and RIS without any manual intervention from the PACS team - bbRad automates all these steps.

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The bbRad Network - A Quarter of England
Over 25% of English Acute NHS Trusts have chosen bbRad. bbRad is nation-wide, allowing sites to securely and easily data share with each other, with sites in Wales, with the Independent Sector, with the Private Sector, with Charity sites, and with hospitals referring patients from outside of the UK. Even in November 2009, the remaining sites are making do with CDs or limited DICOM sends.

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Cypher IT and Cimar (UK) in strategic partnership...

...which sees full integration of bbRad with Cimar's CraniumWeb, bringing high-volume bulk transfer facilities to Cimar customers, and connectivity with non-bbRad sites to bbRad customers.

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Is there Choice in England?
Yes! Are NHS Trusts obliged to use the Dept of Health solution? No, irrespective of Foundation status or not, there is no obligation to use any particular product. No single solution offers 100% coverage. bbRad provides over 15 sites that the DH solution does not. The converse is also true, so while the DH solution is in its 'free' period (ie DH-funded), Trusts envisage using it to compliment bbRad coverage and vice-versa.

Why Competition is Vital
However, a single-provider monopoly, even on an interim basis, will be bad for the NHS. At the end of the Dept of Health funded 'free' period, what happens? If a monopoly situation forms, then without competition how much will have to come out of Trusts' budgets? For the same service? What about improvements or new features? Competition - on-going competition - is essential, in concert with interoperability, if there are to be improvements and value for money for the NHS.


Round-up of Data Sharing in the UK

Independent Sector: bbRad joins the NHS and Independent Sector together, easily, securely, and extremely cost-effectively, including Cobalt Appeal, IDT Medical, Care UK, Lifescan and Spire.

London: Imperial Hospitals NHS Trust are extending their bbRad links for neurology and neurosurgery to Wexham Park in Slough and many other London Trusts. This provides faster access to images which is vital for these acute patients.

North West: Aintree University Hospitals are deploying bbRad in response to the David Nicholson letters, thus providing better links with all their referring sites, whilst saving valuable resources at the same time.

Midlands: Four new major referral centres have selected bbRad for their data sharing needs, including Heart of England NHS Trust and Birmingham Childrens Hospital.

South: Numerous new sites have joined the bbRad network in South West and South Central SHAs, from the NHS to the independent sector. For example, over 80% of NHS Trusts in the South West use bbRad instead of CDs.

Wales: Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust use bbRad for MDT, paediatric consultation and general patient referrals across the South West.