At the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting in Chicago on Monday, RSNA – along with interoperability collaboration The Sequoia Project – announced the first seven vendors to successfully complete the RSNA Image Share Validation program.
Agfa Healthcare, AMBRA Health (formerly DICOM Grid), GE Healthcare, Lexmark Healthcare, LifeImage, Inc., Mach7 Technologies and Novarad are the made it through the program, which tests the compliance of vendors' systems to accurately and efficiently exchange medical images.
Launched in 2016, the validation program seeks to spur adoption of image-sharing capabilities by vendors and radiology sites, enabling easier and more widespread access to medical images and reports.
All imaging companies are invited to apply, according to RSNA, which says the Image Share Validation seal shows provider clients that vendors are committed to improving access to images, enabling better and more efficient patient care: allowing for more informed clinical decision-making, reducing redundant radiology procedures – and relieving patients of the responsibility of transporting their own X-rays and mammograms.
"CDs as a means to exchange exams were an improvement on film, but it's time to move to a modern more efficient mechanism, web-based exchange," said David Mendelson, MD, vice chair of radiology IT at New York's Mount Sinai Health System, in a statement. "Safe, secure internet-based image sharing benefits the clinical provider, radiologist and, most importantly, the patient."
"Validation provides a number of benefits to providers and patients," added Mariann Yeager, CEO of The Sequoia Project. "Vendors who achieve the RSNA Image Validation seal are empowering their physicians to more readily exchange medical images with other providers and their patients across multiple technology platforms to enhance quality of care, improve efficiency, and reduce costs."
Another hoped-for benefit, she said, is a "synergy created among the approved vendors to spur standards-based interoperability innovations."
