‘Patients are ready’ for online access to imaging

Demand for imaging services is higher than ever and patient care is increasingly shared among multiple physicians. More providers are now integrating imaging into their diagnostic workflows, increasing the need to improve access to services.

CDs are no longer enough, experts said during a panel discussion on enterprise imaging solutions at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine’s annual meeting last week.

“Patients rely on us to view their images before they even arrive at the clinic. We need to have access to them before or during the appointment. Not having them prolongs the entire care process,” said Seetharam (Ram) Chadalavada, MD, a practicing interventional radiologist and vice chair of radiology-informatics at the University of Cincinnati. “Bringing CDs can be an arduous process. It almost adds a whole other appointment to that experience.”

Stacie Barnard, director of integrated clinical systems and enterprise computing at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), explained more about the issues with using disks for image sharing.

Barnard, who also has a background in nuclear medicine, said that at his organization, staff members proactively burn discs for patients after their exams, knowing they will likely need to share them with at least one, but often several, other care providers. And while burning a disc is fairly straightforward, it still involves a multistep process that can be time-consuming and divert staff from other clinical tasks.

There is also a risk that discs can be damaged or lost between patient appointments. This can lead to delays in care if providers don’t have access to imaging before appointments, leaving them with insufficient time to review the scans. In some cases, this requires providers to schedule additional visits with patients that wouldn’t have been necessary if they had access to the imaging beforehand.

“We really need a situation where patients can just go online and view their images,” Barnard said, adding that appointments are less productive when imaging is not readily available.