Cloud imaging was supposed to simplify everything. Instead, many health systems inherited slower rollouts, higher costs, and workflows that still feel anchored to a data center. The problem was never the cloud itself. It was how imaging platforms were built to use it.
Why Cloud Imaging Speed and Architecture Matter More Than Ever
In a recent conversation, Brad Levin, General Manager, North America at Visage Imaging, unpacked why cloud imaging outcomes vary so widely. The discussion centered on architecture choices, speed to value, and the strategic advantage of treating enterprise imaging as a single platform rather than a collection of parts.
Key Takeaways
- Streaming-first architecture separates real cloud imaging from hosted legacy systems. Platforms designed to stream pixels behave fundamentally differently than those that simply relocate infrastructure.
- Deployment speed has become a credibility issue, not just a technical milestone. Six-to-nine-month go-lives change how CIOs think about risk, ROI, and organizational patience.
- Enterprise imaging scales better as one platform than as stitched-together modules. A single viewer reduces integration drag and preserves clinical context as imaging expands beyond radiology.
Why True Cloud-Native Imaging Outperforms Hosted PACS
Many imaging platforms claim to be cloud-based, but Levin draws a clear line between hosting legacy systems and designing for cloud imaging from the start. Visage engineered its platform around the same principle that made consumer streaming viable at scale: stream the experience, not the files.
“All the other companies in the space are lifting and shifting their technology,” Levin said. “Visage streams the pixels to the users. We’ve always designed our application to stream the data as quickly as possible for the end users, wherever they are. When the industry moved to the cloud, Visage was already there.”
When pixels are streamed instead of moved, performance improves and complexity drops. It removes the constant need to tune infrastructure, which becomes increasingly difficult as imaging volumes grow and reading becomes more distributed. The result is a solution that scales easily.
How Deployment Speed Becomes a Strategic Advantage
Lengthy imaging implementations have long been treated as inevitable. Levin argues they no longer should be. Compressing go-lives from years into months reduces financial risk and operational disruption. It also changes how quickly organizations can retire old systems and realize value.
“We’re supporting the largest, most sophisticated organizations that exist anywhere,” Levin explained. “Doing things with massive scale, in record time. On average, six to nine months. Roughly three to four times faster than most of the PAC systems that are out there.”
That speed is reinforced by deliberate design choices aimed at adoption, not just performance. Visage has invested in a consistent visual language that helps users orient quickly, using color, shapes, and layout cues to reduce cognitive friction. The platform also supports consumer-grade input tools, including programmable devices (similar to Elgato’s StreamDeck), allowing radiologists to personalize how they work rather than adapt to a fixed interface.
The Case for a Single Viewer Across Clinical Domains
As imaging expands beyond radiology into pathology, cardiology, and other specialties, modular stacks introduce new friction. Each added viewer increases integration work and pulls clinicians out of context. Levin describes a different approach, where multiple imaging domains live inside the same platform.
“These aren’t separate modules,” he said. “We’re talking about radiology, cardiology, pathology, ophthalmology, dermatology, dental, et cetera, all within the same platform. It’s that whole patient jacket experience with our one viewer mindset.”
The result is less stitching and more continuity across the patient record. Instead of managing handoffs between systems, clinicians stay focused on the images and comparisons that matter, regardless of specialty. Over time, that consistency becomes harder to give up than any single feature.
Netflix didn’t win by moving DVDs faster. In much the same way, enterprise imaging starts to change when platforms are built to stream the experience, not shuttle files behind the scenes.
Learn more about Visage Imaging at https://visageimaging.com/
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