Agfa HealthCare – Belgium – Healthcare
Wibu-Systems provides Easy and Secure Access to Agfa HealthCare’s Computed Radiography Products
Time-Based Licensing applied to Medical Science
The Challenge
Agfa HealthCare’s Easy Payment Scheme for Computed Radiography (CR) offers a complete setup for digital imaging – including equipment and software – without any upfront investment. The challenge for the company was to keep bottom line costs under control by delivering the same apparatus to a very diverse customer base and still be flexible on the market with a granular offer that could be fine-tuned to meet feature and affordability demands.
The Solution
Wibu-Systems’ CodeMeter technology proved to be the fitting solution for Agfa HealthCare’s proprietary operating system, as it couples software protection measures for a multitude of platforms with versatile license-based entitlement management. An entire array of scalable license models is ready-made, including time-based licensing, which is widely acknowledged to highly impact software revenue recognition.
The Result
The cutting edge cryptographic methods included in CodeMeter protect the intellectual property of Agfa HealthCare’s Easy Payment Scheme for Computed Radiography. Agfa HealthCare can therefore deliver its system fully encrypted and be sure to preserve its integrity. Additionally, the easy-to-use license lifecycle management system of Wibu-Systems facilitates end users’ access to the most sophisticated CR technology.
The Company
Agfa HealthCare is a leading provider of diagnostic imaging and healthcare IT solutions for hospitals and care centers around the world. The business group is a major player on the diagnostic imaging market, providing analog and digital technology, as well as IT solutions to meet the needs of specialized clinicians. The business group is also a key provider on the healthcare information solutions market, integrating the administrative, financial and clinical workflows of individual hospitals and hospital groups.
Samith Kakkadan
Imaging Product Manager, Agfa HealthCare India
“Wibu-Systems protects our Easy Payment Scheme for Computed Radiography. The secure entitlement system is key for our users getting direct access to our technology regardless of their financial resources. In particular, time-based licensing allows our users to pay according to a preset time scheme that we have configured. At the same time, it guarantees our return on investment in CodeMeter.”
Louis Kuitenbrouwer
VP Imaging, Agfa HealthCare
“The low-end market for Computed Radiography is growing quickly. Smaller hospitals, private practices, and cost-conscious radiology facilities want to go from analog to digital. Agfa HealthCare’s Easy Payment Scheme, powered by Wibu-Systems’ versatile license lifecycle management, provides digital imaging at an affordable and predictable price.”
Time-Based Licensing applied to Medical Science
Wibu-Systems and Agfa Healthcare
Computed Radiography (CR) uses very similar equipment to conventional radiography. Instead of taking an exposed film into a darkroom for developing in chemical tanks or automatic film processors, the imaging plate is run through a special laser scanner, or CR reader, that reads and digitizes the image. The digital image can then be viewed and enhanced using software with functions very similar to other conventional digital image processing apps.
Too often, infrastructure, equipment, and service costs – combined with a slow return on investment – are preventing healthcare providers from adopting advanced technology. Agfa HealthCare has developed a solution that bundles top notch technology and a financially viable plan for easy and affordable access to digital imaging. With it, even radiology facilities with a low volume of imaging benefit from higher quality, digital X-ray images, increased productivity, and a more efficient workflow.
Time-based license management was the trump card: One of the preset licensing models that Wibu-Systems provides with its CodeMeter technology is based on time management, which essentially entitles the user to access certain features of the software for a limited time. Agfa HealthCare implemented this model to allow all healthcare providers to use their Easy Payment Scheme for Computed Radiography.
The solution meets the mixed financial resources of radiology facilities of different sizes. They can pay as they go, with equal and regular instalments, keeping the upfront investment low and easily forecasting the costs they incur. Affordable Computed Radiography enables any healthcare facility to shift from the analog to the digital world. It offers higher quality imaging and a digital workflow at a low cost. Computed Radiography is an important driver in making medical imaging more accessible, especially for smaller healthcare facilities in emerging countries. Without the upfront investment for the equipment, radiology facilities of any size can start working with affordable and predictable costs.
Agfa HealthCare first launched its Easy Payment Scheme for Computed Radiography in India. All a healthcare provider needs is an Internet connection and a debit or credit card. The Easy Payment Scheme is based on a platform, where the user pays regular – typically monthly or quarterly – installments. An interactive web portal reminds the healthcare provider to make each payment, which then allows the system to be used until the next installment’s due date. The payment system is linked to an encryption platform. When payment is made, a ticket can be downloaded to renew the license, releasing the software for use until the next installment.
Wibu-Systems proved to be the only company capable of implementing the encryption and time-based licensing solution on Agfa HealthCare’s proprietary operating system. Agfa HealthCare, however, also wanted the technology to be ready for additional go-to-market options. As the CR market matures and expands globally, Agfa HealthCare intends to add further licensing models to the mix and provide more customized access to its technology.
CodeMeter responds to all the requirements of today’s digital business age. Its Protection Suite offers high calibre functionality for integrating protection and licensing swiftly and effortlessly, achieving maximum protection for software and signing the fully encrypted application to ensure code integrity and authenticity. Agfa HealthCare delivers its protected software with a USB dongle, a CmDongle, which provides the highest security level and utmost mobility for the license. CodeMeter acts as the ultimate protection for Agfa HealthCare’s Easy Payment Scheme. It offers Agfa HealthCare an easy way to control the use and secure access to the system.