Southampton Football Club selects BridgeHead for medical image software

Southampton Football Club has selected BrideHead’s HealthStore software to securely share the medical images of its players.

The Independent Clinical Archive (ICA) system will allow the football club to merge the images as well as protect and securely share them.

Southampton’s medical team wanted a solution which supported individual and collaborative working when examining and comparing medical images, such as ultrasounds and MRIs.

For the club, HealthStore will provide a central hub where player’s medical images can be stored, which means staff and authorised hospital specialists are able to access and view that data when and where they need to, securely, on any approved device.

Dr Steve Baynes, Southampton Football Club’s 1st team doctor said: “Being able to access, view and collaborate with my medical colleagues, wherever they might be around the world, means that quicker diagnostic and treatment decisions can be made for our players and can reduce their time away from the pitch.”

“It’s also important for the medical team to have a full view of players’ information when carrying out pre-signing medicals or monitoring serious injuries over a period of time.

“BridgeHead’s HealthStore will allow us to easily compare scans showing progression or improvement and, ultimately, make rehabilitation recommendations that positively impact player recovery and performance.”

Southampton FC is not the first sports team which has signed up with one of its products.

In May 2018, Digital Health News reported on how the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had signed a deal with BridgeHead to provide its vendor neutral archive technology.

Dr Baynes added that BridgeHead’s “proven track record” with sports organisations like the ECB was one of the reasons why the company was chosen.

Jim Beagle, CEO of BridgeHead Software, added: “Increasingly elite sports teams are recognising the challenges associated with rising levels of disparate medical data often spread throughout an organisation and its associated partners.

“Good-quality data management not only improves privacy, security and compliance, but it also drives innovation.

“We’re delighted to be working with a premier league football team, like Southampton Football Club, who is taking action to bring together its players’ medical images in order to maximize performance, as well as equipping the medical team with technology that helps them to deepen their understanding of injury prevention and rehabilitation.”