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True interoperability: Radiology can't afford to wait

By Michael V. Wall, CEO, DICOM Grid

With each advance in medical imaging, the role of radiology in healthcare becomes more central and the need for clinicians to have immediate access to medical imaging data more critical. Yet for many hospitals intent on pursuing Stage 1 meaningful use incentive funds, fully digitizing the radiology function and integrating images with the electronic health record may seem like something they can move to the back burner.
 
There are two things those hospitals need to know.
1.           Fall behind, and it may be impossible to catch up. If hospitals make key software selections now without consulting their IT professionals, they may find they don’t have the necessary bandwidth or storage capacity to make critical imaging data part of their medical record later, when integration is required.
2.           New Web-based architectures already make it possible and affordable to move forward on both fronts at the same time. This is so important because there's no question that achieving full interoperability of the imaging function – that is, being able to efficiently store and instantly share images with physicians anywhere and everywhere – is essential for patient safety, quality, and competitive reasons.
 
Consider just the issue of storage. In 2008, some 800 million imaging studies were done in this country, creating the need for 8,000 terabytes of primary storage plus an additional 8,000 terabytes for disaster recovery. This need is expected to grow by 25 percent every year as superior equipment and lower costs generate denser images and greater demand. Current storage media are connected directly to the PACS server, severely limiting the scalability and accessibility of the archive. By comparison, next-generation technology now allows archival images to be uploaded into a cloud-based content management and distribution system that authorized users can access for free even on portable devices – making those unreadable CDs now in use simply a bad memory.
 
Now consider the implications of that kind of access for emergency departments – where redundant studies cause unnecessary exposure to radiation, added wait times, and mounting expenses – and many specialists need to see more than current images; they need to access previous studies so they can compare and contrast multiple images, regardless of their origin, on a single screen. At the same time, their organizations need to comply with HIPAA security provisions, maintain centralized control of communications, and feed billing and back-end management functions.
 
Features designed to meet all these needs are available now – enabling optimal storage, management, and transport of even the biggest images without the need for special equipment. The benefits of such interactive Web 2.0 applications are the same ones MU is promoting in the long-term: improved outcomes, increased efficiency and accuracy, lower costs, reduced errors and elimination of duplication.
 
Which is precisely why now is the perfect time for healthcare organizations to act. The integration of imaging data into the EHR is inevitable in a future in which decision support tools, consumer access and collaboration throughout the continuum of care will all be paramount. Make that connection today and stay out front.