The Idaho Health Data Exchange and St. Luke's Health System in Boise, Idaho, have launched eHealth Technologies' Image Exchange, a system that allows data exchange members to instantly access, view and collaborate on diagnostic images through the Web.
Through a secure online application, member providers can exchange X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, PET scans and ultrasounds within seconds. Previously, it could take hours or even days to share these kinds of images.
“By accessing the Idaho Health Data Exchange, clinicians can collaborate on mutual patients, thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness in rendering high-quality, low-cost care,” Dr. Marc Chasin, vice president, chief medical information officer and interim chief information officer of St. Luke's Health System, said in a news release.
For physicians who are on the IHDE, they will no longer have to follow the traditional method of sending requests to hospitals' imaging and medical records departments and independent imaging centers in order to gain access to images that have to then be burned onto CD and sent via mail, courier or with the patient. Benefits of this immediate retrieval include fewer delays in treatment, a decreased risk of errors due to incomplete records and less need for duplicate exams.
“Patients will experience a higher quality of care because their entire medical record is available to all authorized providers and the elimination of repeat exams, which will result in lower healthcare costs,” eHealth Technologies executive vice president and general manager Gary Larson said in the release.
In 2012, IHDE users accessed patient reports for viewing more than 3 million times. Members of the not-for-profit corporation funded by Idaho's legislature, exchange participants, and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant funding, include hospitals, clinics, labs and third-party payers.
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