LifeIMAGE Selected as the Clearinghouse for RSNA’s National Medical Image Sharing Project
The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) has selected lifeIMAGE to serve as a digital “clearinghouse” for a two-year image sharing project funded by a federal contract from the National Institute of Health. Similarly, lifeIMAGE is collaborating with EMC Corporation for a pilot project to image enable the company’s personal healthcare records for its employees and their dependants.
Newton, MA (PRWEB) November 22, 2010
As part of its initiative to promote a standards-based workflow for populating Personal Health Record (PHR) platforms with patients’ medical image data, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) has selected lifeIMAGE to serve as a digital “clearinghouse” for a two-year image sharing project funded by a federal contract from the National Institute of Health/National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. The goal of the project is to give patients control of their imaging histories (reports and images) by allowing them to manage these records as easily as they manage other aspects of their lives online such as banking and shopping. Initial connectivity is being demonstrated at the RSNA 2010 conference, and live patient data exchange is planned for January 2011.
As the image sharing project’s clearinghouse, all image and report data from the five participating medical centers – Mount Sinai Medical Center, University of California at San Francisco, University of Maryland, University of Chicago and the Mayo Clinic – will flow through the lifeIMAGE network to the participating PHR platforms. It is expected that 300,000 patients will interact with the exchange over the course of the two-year contract.
“Exchanging medical images outside of hospital systems – never mind directly to patients – has been difficult, if not impossible, with the complex legacy technology systems currently in place within healthcare institutions. lifeIMAGE, along with our other partners and the support of NIBIB, represents the kind of innovation we are pursuing through RSNA to build a secure standards-based image sharing platform that is used easily by patients and their doctors,” said Dr. David S. Mendelson, chief of clinical informatics and director of radiology information systems at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. “With lifeIMAGE’s participation, we will be able to demonstrate the value and ease by which medical images can be collected and shared within the complete medical ecosystem. The internet tools patients use daily to manage their lives need to be extended to the management of their health. This effort will promote this new paradigm!”
Much in the same way RSNA is using lifeIMAGE network to connect patients with their imaging records, lifeIMAGE is collaborating with EMC Corporation for a pilot project to image enable the company’s personal healthcare records for its employees and their dependants.
Jack Mollen, executive vice president of human resources, EMC Corporation, said “EMC believes deeply in partnering with our employees to promote good health management through the adoption of new and innovative healthcare technologies. As the first employer to offer online personal healthcare records to employees and their families six years ago, we’ve continued to introduce enhanced features such as prescription drug messaging, cost-comparison tools, portability and remote patient monitoring. Image access is the next evolutionary step, giving employees access to even more meaningful healthcare information and helping them partner more closely with their healthcare providers.”
“The superior diagnostic value of imaging exams is undeniable, and their responsible use will continue to expand as imaging protocols and modalities continue to advance by leaps and bounds,” said lifeIMAGE president and CEO Hamid Tabatabaie. “To fight off the excessive rise in costs, redundant exams and excessive radiation, we deliver an image - and information-sharing network to help ensure on-demand access to patient imaging history, from anywhere.”
The RSNA medical image sharing project is based on the IHE® (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) XDS and XDS-I standard profiles which are intended to create a common and standards-based approach to exchanging medical information among various stakeholders. lifeIMAGE, through its innovative cloud technology and vendor-neutral platform, serves as the clearinghouse to receive images and reports from any hospital or imaging center and then deliver the images and related data to standards-compliant PHRs.
“At this year’s RSNA conference, we will demonstrate how patients can log onto their Microsoft HealthVault account and receive results of imaging exams from participating hospitals through the lifeIMAGE clearinghouse,” said Dr. Paul Chang, vice chair, radiology informatics and medical director, enterprise imaging at the University of Chicago Medical Center. “The work of my team at University of Chicago, in concert and collaboration with RSNA, lifeIMAGE, Philips and Microsoft, demonstrates how replacing the inefficient practice of distributing imaging results on CDs benefits the patients, physicians, and the overall delivery of care.”
At the RSNA conference in Chicago, November 28 to December 2, 2010, attendees will be able to view a demonstration of this technology. They can register for a simulated imaging exam, approve image sharing through lifeIMAGE (Hall B, North Building, Booth #9039) or the IHE Image Sharing Demonstration (Hall A, South Building, Booth #2852), sign in to a PHR to view their images and reports, and learn how to work within the PHR platform.
LifeIMAGE allows patients, physicians and hospitals to electronically network, collect and share diagnostic imaging records from any facility, reducing time and cost associated with redundant exams, avoiding excessive radiation exposure for patients using an image transport method with optimal security that is faster and more reliable than CD media. The information is stored on a secured private and HIPAA-compliant cloud using EMC storage and information management infrastructure technology.
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