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Level 3, Niagara Falls Memorial team up to speed up medical data transmission

New fiber-optic network increases security, lowers cost

Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center has partnered with Level 3 Communications to establish a cutting-edge telecommunications network that delivers greatly improved speed and better security at a lower cost.

The new, HIPAA compliant data network delivers diagnostic imaging results and other digitized medical information 13 times faster than the medical center's previous system.

Further increasing its enormous technological impact, the Level 3 network connects Memorial to thousands of fiber miles already running through Western New York – one of the largest such concentrations in the United States – for powerful high-speed access to  other medical institutions in WNY and across the country.

"We originally contacted Level 3 with the idea of improving reliability," said Edward Lanthier, the medical center's director of clinical engineering. "We quickly found our collaboration was leading to a faster, flexible system that gave us a much bigger bang for our buck."

"Advanced, cost-effective information technology is critical to the successful operation of health care facilities," said Memorial President & CEO Joseph A. Ruffolo. "The Level 3 network has allowed to fully implement our digital Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), which our allows us to digitally store and instantly access X-rays, CT scans, MRIs and other diagnostic imaging results. This capability greatly enhances operations throughout the medical center, particularly in our ER1 Emergency Department and The Heart Center of Niagara."

"It also solidifies our telemedicine stroke care collaboration with Kaleida Health's comprehensive stroke center and opens the door to voice-over-internet and convergent (voice, data and video) networking, the future of communications," Lanthier said.

Level 3 representative Alicia Quinones said the new infrastructure will prove essential for strengthening Niagara Falls Memorial as a regional health care provider.

"As the community looks to future economic growth, the speedy, secure transportation of data and ideas will be equally critical. That is why Level 3 is actively involved in providing a quality medical network for Memorial and the Greater Niagara region," Quinones said.