Visualization in Health Grid Environments: a Novel Service and Business Approach Frank Dickmann 1 , Mathias Kaspar 1 , Benjamin Löhnhardt 1 , Nick Kepper 2,3 , Fred Viezens 4 , Frank Hertel 4 , Michael Lesnussa 2 , Yassene Mohammed 5 , Andreas Thiel 6 , Thomas Steinke 7 , Johannes Bernarding 4 , Dagmar Krefting 8 , Tobias A. Knoch 2,3 , Ulrich Sax 9 1 Department of Medical Informatics, University of Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Straße 40, 37075 Göttingen, Germany. 2 Biophysical Genomics, Dept. Cell Biology & Genetics, Erasmus MC, Dr. Molewaterplein 50, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 3 Biophysical Genomics, Genome Organization & Function, BioQuant Center/ German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. 4 Otto-von-Guericke University, Institute for Biometrics and Medical Computer Science, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany. 5 RRZN – Regional Compute Centre for Lower Saxony, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Schloßwender Straße 5, 30159 Hannover, Germany. 6 OFFIS / R&D Division Health, Escherweg 2, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany. 7 Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB), Takustrasse 7, 14195 Berlin-Dahlem, Germany. 8 Department of Medical Informatics, Charite - University Medicine, Campus Benjamin Franklin (CBF), Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany. 9 Department of Information Technology, University Medicine Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Straße 40, 37075 Göttingen, Germany. {fdickmann, mathias.kaspar, benjamin.loehnhardt}@med.uni-goettingen.de, nick.kepper@bioquant.uni-heidelberg.de, {fred.viezens, frank.hertel, johannes.bernarding}@med.ovgu.de, m.lesnussa@erasmusmc.nl, mohammed@rrzn.uni-hannover.de, andreas.thiel@offis.de, steinke@zib.de, dagmar.krefting@charite.de, ta.knoch@taknoch.org, usax@med.uni-goettingen.de. Abstract. Advanced visualization technologies are gaining major importance to allow presentation and manipulation of high dimensional data. Since new health technologies are constantly increasing in complexity, adequate information processing is required for diagnostics and treatment. Therefore, the German D- Grid initiative started to build visualization centers in 2008, which have recently been embedded into the existing compute and storage infrastructure. This paper describes an analysis of this infrastructure and the interplay with life science applications for 3D and 4D visualization and manipulation. Furthermore, the performance and business aspects regarding accounting, pricing and billing are investigated. The results show the viability and the opportunities for further optimization of this novel service approach and the possibilities for a sustainable business scenario. Key words: MediGRID, distributed visualization, accounting and billing, telemedicine, service business model.