Varian Medical Systems Launches OncoPeer, a Cloud-Based Resource for Sharing Clinical Information and Experience
PALO ALTO, Calif., May 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) today announced the launch of OncoPeer™, a cloud-based interactive resource for oncology professionals intended to help improve the efficiency, quality, and consistency of care in cancer clinics. Varian customers can access OncoPeer 24-hours per day, to exchange knowledge and experience with other clinicians.
“Providing clinicians with resources that enable them to pool knowledge and learn from each other has become an important goal for us, as treatment centers seek ever more effective ways of implementing precise, non-invasive treatments like RapidArc® radiosurgery,” said Kolleen Kennedy, president of Varian’s Oncology Systems business. “We developed OncoPeer as a tool to help our customers collaborate, find others who use Varian technology, and learn from one another.”
Users of the OncoPeer cloud community will be able to initiate threaded discussions, form open or closed groups, share and comment about uploaded files, create events, monitor trending key words within the community, and sort information by keyword. Varian will also use the tool to support communication between members of advisory boards that provide feedback on products and services.
“We intend this to be a place for our customers to connect and share,” said Sukhveer Singh, vice president and general manager of the Oncology Continuum Solutions business at Varian. “Within the OncoPeer community, Varian customers will be able to set up their own groups to collaborate within or across institutions. We anticipate that users will find different ways to use it. Medical oncologists configuring the ARIA® oncology information system to support their clinical processes might reach out to colleagues who have already accomplished this for tips and advice. A medical physicist might ask peers a question pertaining to quality assurance processes, or share specific procedures utilized in his or her clinic.”
“We’re excited about how the early adopters are already using the resource to help one another,” said Sarah Gyatso, manager of the OncoPeer cloud community. “Recently a community member posted a question to the nearly 600 users we had signed up so far, asking for tips when creating radiotherapy treatment plans for prostate cancer patients with bilateral hip replacements. The user received a detailed answer from an experienced member, who offered specific and actionable advice. This was a perfect example of the peer-to-peer knowledge exchange that OncoPeer is intended to support.”
The OncoPeer community is being rolled out initially for access by customers in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australiaand New Zealand; Varian will roll it out for users in other geographic areas starting in mid-June. Varian’s role is to supply and support the site technically, and monitor communications for adherence to guidelines. It will not be used as a channel for company or promotional communications and must not include protected health information of individually identifiable patients.
Varian will be holding an online seminar about Navigating OncoPeer on Tuesday, May 12, at 8 a.m. PDT. Interested clinicians can find out more at this registration website.
About Varian Medical Systems
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, focuses energy on saving lives by equipping the world with advanced technology for fighting cancer and for X-ray imaging. The company is the world’s leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiation. The company provides comprehensive solutions for radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is also a premier supplier of X-ray imaging components, including tubes, digital detectors, and image processing software and workstations for use in medical, scientific, and industrial settings, as well as for security and non-destructive testing. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 6,800 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 70 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit www.varian.com or follow us on Twitter.
