Enterprise imaging has become one of the fastest-growing sources of healthcare data, driven by the expansion of AI-enabled diagnostics, larger imaging file sizes, and increased utilization across care settings. According to research, MRI and CT dataset sizes are growing approximately 30% year-on-year. Multimodal imaging, which combines data from MRI, CT, PET, and digital pathology to build a comprehensive clinical picture, amplifies these requirements even further. The expanded use of AI in radiology and pathology is enabling clinicians to improve diagnostic accuracy while reducing interpretation time by up to 90%. Beyond the clinic walls, remote diagnostics, particularly telemedicine and teleradiology, require rapid image retrieval and transmission across networks that span hospitals, outpatient centers, and cloud environments.
None of this would be possible without the efforts of IT teams behind the scenes. They set up the infrastructure on which healthcare data is stored and accessed by healthcare providers. But as imaging data grows exponentially, IT teams are struggling to maintain performance consistency.
Outdated planning models, current pain points
IT teams are the unsung heroes of healthcare, planning, executing, and maintaining the technology that enables clinical and diagnostic advances. They are also the first line of defense against a data downtime disaster.
Consider this: a single storage system falter can have a severe ripple effect throughout the entire care continuum. Studies show a single downtime event can potentially cost a 200-bed hospital tens of thousands of dollars per hour while quietly eroding clinician productivity across departments. At the patient level, downtime can delay diagnoses and, in turn, treatment planning. Even milliseconds of latency can interrupt AI analysis or delay a clinician’s ability to access time-sensitive studies.
IT teams have traditionally used a reactive approach to ensuring uptime. Long-term data storage and management planning involved projecting the volume of data expected to be generated and stored a few years down the line, and ensuring there was enough storage available to support it. And then, big data arrived on the scene.
Today, the real question isn’t how much data is owned; it’s how well-equipped the network is to handle it. Yet, some healthcare IT teams continue to use the reactive approach that forces them into unnecessary trade-offs between performance, cost, and control. As data volumes continue to climb, the organizations best positioned to deliver faster, more informed care will be those that treat infrastructure not as a constraint but as a catalyst for innovation.
Service-based models that align cost with care delivery and shift focus from infrastructure maintenance to data readiness can help eliminate refresh cycles, reduce operational complexity, and restore predictability to environments where uptime and access are non-negotiable. This evolution is reshaping how leading organizations view infrastructure: as a clinical enabler. It starts with flash storage.
Designing storage for enterprise imaging
A flash storage solution offers the speed, scalability, and simplicity of a cloud solution with the security and stability of on-premises options. Think: instant access to data, seamless scalability, and continuous availability. Critically, flash storage is capable of adapting to growing data demands without the complexity or downtime associated with legacy solutions. That means IT can shift focus from managing storage to supporting strategic initiatives, while clinicians gain faster, more reliable access to patient data and imaging.
Here are four ways IT teams can reduce costs and improve data management with a flash storage solution:
- Utilize per-study pricing. Under the old model, IT pays for storage based on the size of the system. Flash storage utilizes “per study” pricing, which enables organizations to pay based on the number of imaging studies (e.g., MRIs, CTs, or X-rays) they process. This aligns storage costs directly with clinical activity rather than unpredictable data growth.
- Reduce operational overhead and keep performance aligned. In the past, IT operations and management have been hands-on and labor intensive. With flash storage, the platform manages its own performance, updates, and capacity planning automatically. That means healthcare teams can access imaging studies, run analytics, or support EMRs without downtime due to downtime or maintenance.
- Plan with confidence, even as demands evolve. Under the old model, IT estimates how much storage will be needed years from now—an almost impossible task today. Flash storage offers guaranteed service levels, ensuring the system will always deliver the performance required, enabling leaders to plan confidently for the future.
- Maintain control over the imaging strategy. Legacy systems were designed for static, siloed environments, restricting the technology and tools that could be used. Flash storage is designed using open standards and supports a broad ecosystem of technology platforms. Thus, healthcare teams have the freedom to evolve their imaging strategy as new technologies, workflows, or clinical priorities emerge.
Pure Storage’s Evergreen//One™ for Medical Imaging is redefining how imaging is delivered and supported. It’s the first storage model designed specifically for enterprise imaging, with per-study pricing, built-in SLAs, and predictable performance that scales with demand. It aligns storage costs with care delivery, eliminates infrastructure tradeoffs, and gives teams the confidence to plan for what’s next.
To learn more about how a modern solution like Evergreen//One™ for Medical Imaging can help your organization, read our free guide, Designing infrastructure around the way healthcare operates.
