How ARA Health Specialists Unified Imaging and Expanded Remote Coverage with IntelePACS and InteleOrchestrator
ARA Health Specialists (ARA) deployed Intelerad’s IntelePACS and InteleOrchestrator to consolidate five health systems across North Carolina into a single reading environment while continuing to onboard new hospitals. This unified platform reduced workflow friction, improved remote reading performance, and enabled ARA to absorb additional study volume and new sites without disrupting 24/7 operations.
Key Outcomes:
Immediate efficiency gains: While traditional implementations often cause delays, ARA saw efficiency gains of 10% while the PACS transition was still underway.
One unified reading environment: Fragmented PACS workflows slowed radiologists down, so ARA unified studies into a single reading environment, with a 1.2 million annual study volume, to create a more consistent and efficient workflow.
Reliable, 24/7 coverage: Limited remote performance constrained coverage options, so faster image streaming enabled reliable nights, weekends, and holiday coverage without on-site staffing.
Reduced downtime: Scaling across health systems introduces risk, so standardizing imaging workflows created operational resilience without introducing downtime.
The Challenge
ARA supports five health systems across western North Carolina, a mountainous region with uneven network infrastructure. As ARA grew, reading across separate PACS platforms became unsustainable. New hospitals were being added faster than original implementation plans anticipated, increasing pressure to onboard sites quickly without disrupting care. Each new hospital brought its own PACS environment, limiting ARA’s ability to scale coverage efficiently.
Workflows were not unified, operations were becoming increasingly complex, and image access was slow. Remote reading was possible, but performance varied significantly, particularly for radiologists working from home, placing strain on IT teams and clinicians alike. For a group covering emergency imaging around the clock, downtime during upgrades or transitions was not an acceptable risk.
The Solution: A Unified, Scalable Platform
ARA selected IntelePACS and InteleOrchestrator, deployed in a private cloud environment, to unify reading workflows and support expansion. Rather than asking radiologists to adapt to each hospital’s PACS, Intelerad centralized studies into a single reading environment, creating one consistent workflow regardless of where images originated.
The platform also enabled ARA to shift from a traditionally on-site coverage model to a distributed, teleradiology-enabled approach, allowing radiologists to read effectively from home or centralized locations without sacrificing performance. Although ARA is not traditionally a teleradiology practice, Intelerad effectively allowed the group to operate as one.
“The ability, the speed, at which we could get data streaming over that [Intelerad] PACS was far superior than the existing PACS that we had in our home station.” said Andy Brown, President and CEO of ARA.
Operational Impact
Before adopting Intelerad solutions, ARA experienced:
Complicated workflows that spanned multiple PACS environments
Slower image streaming, particularly for remote readers
Limited ability to cover distant hospitals without being on-site
High IT burden to maintain VPNs and other access pathways
Time-consuming onboarding for new sites, constrained by legacy systems
After implementing Intelerad solutions, ARA now has:
One unified reading environment across all five health systems
Noticeably faster image streaming compared to legacy PACS, including for home reading
Remote and after-hours coverage absorbed into existing workflows
Simplified IT support for remote access
Flexibility to easily onboard new hospitals
Results
Even while still in the rollout phase, ARA saw immediate operational improvements. “With half of our practice, they were on multiple PACS. And so eliminating that, we saw gains in efficiency, I would say, right out of the gates from a large portion of our practice,” explained Brown.
By unifying their repository and worklist, radiologists were able to read more efficiently, citing efficiency gains of around “10% or more,” said Joe Giuffrida, COO of ARA. These gains allowed the group to absorb additional study volume and expand coverage without adding daytime radiologists.
The unified platform also enabled ARA to support hospitals in Boone and Lenoir remotely, two rural communities that previously would have required on-site coverage or reliance on separate PACS.
At the same time, the implementation team adapted as the business grew, successfully bringing four additional locations live that were not included in the original scope. These improvements were realized during a PACS transition, demonstrating immediate operational value rather than benefits that only appear after full optimization.
Why it Matters
Growth in radiology rarely happens on a clean timeline. New hospitals, service lines, and coverage obligations often appear while teams are already managing complex transitions. In this environment, groups need platforms that increase efficiency and allow them to grow without introducing operational risk.
ARA Health Specialists’ experience shows how unifying imaging workflows can create resilience as well as efficiency. By consolidating reading into a single environment, the group gained the flexibility to expand coverage, onboard new sites mid-implementation, and support distributed reading without sacrificing performance or uptime. That resilience allowed ARA to keep pace with growth while maintaining consistent clinical operations.
Their experience also shows how unifying imaging workflows enables radiology groups to operate as a true network rather than a collection of sites. With a consistent reading environment and reliable remote performance, coverage becomes flexible, scalable, and sustainable, regardless of geography.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Who is ARA Health Specialists?
ARA Health Specialists is a multi-specialty radiology, interventional, and vascular practice based in Asheville, North Carolina. Founded in 1944, ARA serves 18 counties across western North Carolina, supporting multiple health systems with a 1.2 million annual study volume and 24/7 imaging coverage across hospital sites.
What is IntelePACS?
IntelePACS is Intelerad’s cloud-native radiology PACS platform built for scalable, high-performance diagnostic image management across hospitals, health systems, and radiology groups. Its flexible hybrid architecture integrates seamlessly with existing health system infrastructure, supporting both cloud and on-premises environments so organizations can transition to the cloud without disrupting current operations. For radiology groups reading across multiple sites, IntelePACS consolidates disparate hospital PACS into a single, unified reading workflow — eliminating the complexity of navigating multiple systems and streamlining all studies into one interface. The platform enables radiologists to read from anywhere — on-site, at home, or across distributed networks — while ensuring the integrity of radiology images and patient data across the enterprise.
What is InteleOrchestrator?
InteleOrchestrator is Intelerad’s cloud-based, AI-enabled radiology workflow orchestration platform designed for seamless imaging interoperability across hospitals, health systems, and radiology groups. As a vendor-neutral solution, it serves as a single source for managing all imaging, workflow, and patient data across your organization. InteleOrchestrator uses intelligent study distribution to automatically route exams based on radiologist availability, subspecialty expertise, current workload, and geographic location — helping radiology groups fulfill SLA commitments and maintain workload balance while enabling health systems to increase imaging service levels across their enterprise.
What challenge did ARA Health Specialists face with their imaging workflows?
ARA supports five health systems across western North Carolina. As the group grew, reading across separate PACS platforms became unsustainable. Workflows were fragmented, remote image access was slow and inconsistent, and new hospitals were being added faster than original implementation plans anticipated. Each new hospital brought its own PACS environment, limiting ARA’s ability to scale coverage efficiently. For a group covering emergency imaging around the clock, downtime during transitions was not an acceptable risk.
How did IntelePACS and InteleOrchestrator solve ARA’s multi-system imaging problem?
ARA selected IntelePACS and InteleOrchestrator, deployed in a private cloud environment, to consolidate five separate PACS environments into a single, unified reading workflow. Rather than asking radiologists to adapt to each hospital’s PACS, Intelerad centralized studies into one consistent environment regardless of where images originated. The platform also enabled a shift from on-site coverage to a distributed, remote reading-enabled model.
What results did ARA achieve with IntelePACS and InteleOrchestrator?
ARA saw approximately 10% or greater efficiency gains even while the PACS transition was still underway. The unified platform allowed the group to absorb additional study volume and expand remote coverage — including to hospitals in Boone and Lenoir — without adding daytime radiologists. Four additional locations not in the original scope were also brought live during implementation.
Can Intelerad support radiology groups during active growth and expansion?
Yes. ARA’s experience demonstrates that IntelePACS and InteleOrchestrator can deliver operational improvements during implementation, not just after. The platform supported onboarding of new hospitals mid-transition and enabled scalable remote coverage without introducing downtime or operational risk.
