Elekta Axis Cloud makes a difference in the veterinary world

Oncology Informatics

Jul 19, 2023 3 minute read

Australia animal hospital gains greater working flexibility and peace of mind with Elekta’s secure cloud environment

While future-proofing their data requirements and ensuring operational continuity with Elekta Axis Cloud, the Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH)–one of Australia’s leading specialist and emergency veterinary hospital networks–also gains greater working flexibility with enhanced offsite access to MOSAIQ®.

Sash Dog Photo — A patient about to undergo radiation therapy at SASH

SASH provides specialist and 24/7 emergency veterinary treatments for dogs, cats and other companion animals, including a multidisciplinary cancer center. Their purpose-built radiation oncology center, based in North Ryde, Sydney, opened in 2018, boasting Australia’s first veterinary-dedicated linear accelerator with stereotactic treatment capability. In 2021, SASH began to search for an innovative solution that would satisfy the radiation oncology department’s pressing data requirements.

“We felt that the Axis solution would be the best way to future-proof the data and software requirements for the department.”

“Primarily, we were looking for a MOSAIQ storage solution,” comments Senior Radiation Therapist, Rachel Foong. “The DICOM image data that we were producing was filling up our server, which was a growing concern. When we looked around at our options, we felt that the Axis solution would be the best way to future-proof the data and software requirements for the department.”

Implementation of Axis at SASH took just four months, going live in December 2021. Elekta specialists worked closely alongside the SASH team, including physicists and IT staff, to ensure the transition went as smoothly as possible and that every process continued to operate well in the cloud-based environment.

“Elekta provided great support by keeping regular communication channels open via Teams meetings, emails and telephone,” says Rachel. “Our Elekta Project Manager, Clare Porteous, did an excellent job of making sure that everyone knew what needed to be done and in what timeframe. Then, in the first few weeks after going live, I knew I could rely on someone from Elekta to respond quickly if I needed help.”

“Axis allows us more flexibility to access MOSAIQ from other, multiple locations.”

Sash Cat — SASH treats dogs, cats and other companion animals

“Now that we have Axis, we don’t have to worry about running out of data storage space, which was our primary goal, and we no longer have the burden of managing a local server,” she continues. “But we have realized that Axis helps us in other ways as well. For example, it allows us more flexibility to access MOSAIQ from other, multiple locations. Since our physics team works off-site, the Cloud allows them or any other member of staff working from home to easily log in to MOSAIQ remotely.”

Previously, only one person could access MOSAIQ remotely at a time via the server. If another member of staff wanted to access MOSAIQ, they had to check that nobody else was logged in, otherwise they would interrupt the other user’s session. The Axis environment has removed this limitation. Not only that but, since Axis is built on Microsoft Azure, the department’s data is protected by robust data security features, including multi-layer threat protection and automated security detection and response. Elekta also partners with world class cybersecurity organizations, providing 24/7 monitoring and incident response, and Axis is certified to meet the stringent security requirement of the SOC 2 Type 2 Report.

“The peace of mind we gain from knowing that our local storage requirements are no longer an issue; that our data is stored securely and backed-up in Axis; that everything operates smoothly, and that online support can be received from Elekta quickly and easily, has made an enormous difference to our department,” Rachel concludes.