for Epic The complete patient picture Integrate medical image exchange with your Epic EMR so clinicians can access the full imaging history at every point of care.
CONTENTS Introduction... 2 Image Exchange Overview... 3 Integration with Epic... 5 How it Works... 7 Building for Tomorrow... 9 1.
Introduction Medical imaging information is too clinically valuable to be locked up in silos. When physicians have convenient, electronic access to their patients exams, regardless of where they were performed or are stored, they can make faster care decisions, and avoid ordering harmful and costly redundant procedures. At lifeimage, we are exclusively focused on facilitating the exchange of medical imaging data across the boundaries of disparate health networks. Our goal is for all imaging data to be available to clinicians, from the clinical applications they already use while delivering care. The electronic medical record (EMR) is one such application. Your institution has invested substantial time and energy in its Epic deployment, so it should be the source of truth for all patient data, including imaging. By integrating image exchange capabilities with your EMR, you can give every clinician the ability to access and view exams from anywhere, at the point of care. lifeimage customers include more than sixty health systems on the Epic platform. Our enterprise image exchange services interoperate with the EMR so outside exams received on a CD or via our network are instantly available to clinicians system-wide, right from the patient s local record. In this guide, we share drivers and best practices for incorporating image exchange into EMR workflows. 2.
Image Exchange Overview Image exchange is an innovative technology that is helping health systems better manage demands for delivering high quality care, at a lower cost. Image exchange is a carefully devised set of technologies brought together so that imaging information can be detected, extracted from its source of origin, shared with authorized users, across the boundaries of health systems. Why are institutions implementing image exchange workflows? To alleviate challenges of receiving exams on discs Image exchange gives every department a fast, intuitive workflow for uploading, viewing, sharing and nominating exams to PACS, all without CDs having to travel all over your campus. To improve care quality and coordination, and patient outcomes Image exchange enables clinicians to better prepare for and collaborate on cases, before a patient is transferred or arrives for a consultation. To prevent repeat imaging In at-risk settings where managing imaging utilization is particularly important, image exchange helps clinicians work with prior exams to the fullest extent possible, rather than order repeat studies. To support growth Image exchange can help providers expand their existing catchment area, and also improve the quantity and quality of referrals. 3.
Enterprise Demand for Image Exchange: TRAUMA/CRITICAL CARE Teams can better prepare for critically injured patients. ORTHOPEDICS Stops CDs from slowing down clinics and consultations. PEDIATRICS Subspecialists can share their expertise, anywhere, instantly. ORGAN TRANSPLANT Connect surgeons to time-sensitive, life-saving donor organs. CARDIOLOGY Physicians can easily see exams for new referrals. RADIOLOGY Instantly publish images and reports, anywhere NEUROSCIENCES Ensures fast, reliable image access during stroke cases. INTERNATIONAL Hospitals can work with patients looking for US-based care. ONCOLOGY Streamlines the referral process, expedites tumor board. lifeimage provides an enterprise platform for medical image exchange. It enables workflows that allow physicians, hospitals and patients to securely transfer medical images, anywhere. It can be used to manage exams from discs at the departmental level, receive exams electronically from any outside source, integrate outside images with local systems, and sharing exams with outside physicians and patients. Our network enables facilities The lifeimage platform leverages a and individual users to find and unique combination of local and connect with one another in cloud resources. This hybrid order to securely exchange architecture is critical to support the medical images and information. volume of medical image exchange seen at busy referral centers. It s also critical to supporting an integrated approach. We strongly believe that most effective way to increase utilization of the image exchange service is to incorporate it into existing workflows. As such, we offer numerous APIs and web services to integrate our services with other applications. Our services can be integrated with your electronic medical record, clinical decision support and personal health record, and health information exchange systems. 4.
Integration with Epic The EMR and the enterprise image exchange platform are a perfect clinical match. Combined, these technologies make a highly desired and useful aspect of the patient s history - external imaging - a front-and-center aspect of the patient record. When image exchange is adopted via the EMR, your institution gets the intrinsic value universal exam access, with the added benefits related to clinical workflow, radiology operations, and enterprise adoption. Enhanced satisfaction and productivity among physicians lifeimage integration gives clinicians a single, convenient workflow for accessing patients external imaging. They simply click a button from the patient chart to see external exams, or add new exams from a CD or the network. Cross-departmental access to external imaging When the image sharing platform is in sync with the EMR, everyone in the institution automatically has access to external exams, even if the data hasn t been committed to PACS. This ensures all members of a multi-disciplinary care team can reference the imaging history when making care plans. Access is no longer limited to the team with the imaging CD. Faster enterprise adoption When implemented via the broad footprint of the EMR, you can roll out image exchange capabilities to many departments throughout the health system at once. Training is minimal, because adoption stems from familiar workflows. This big bang approach deployment helps institutions see fast return on investment. 5.
The Value for Radiology Departments: In addition to the clinical benefits, integrating lifeimage with the EMR offers unique advantageous to your institution s imaging informatics operations. Making tools for outside image access and management available within the most utilized clinical application in the organization will result in truly decentralized CD ingestion, and will significantly lessen day-to-day outside image management workload presently on the shoulders of the film library. PACS Reduced demand for exams to go to PACS - The image sharing platform makes external images easily viewable within the EMR, without it first having to go to PACS. This results in fewer requests for exams to be pushed into the PACS. Faster, more efficient process for importing studies - lifeimage includes electronic workflow for clinicians to nominate exams to PACS. When external exams are accessed via the image sharing platform, outside patient demographics are instantly updated to reflect your institution's preferred format. This simplifies the downstream process of importing studies because data is accurate and PACS-ready. Enables automatic secondary read orders lifeimage includes simple and intuitive workflow for your clinicians to place orders for local overreads of external exams. Many institutions using the lifeimage platform have seen a significant uptick in reimbursement for re-reads. 6.
How it Works The lifeimage platform works with your local systems to enable intuitive workflow for accessing and ingesting outside study data. Patients presents for an appointment Images and reports are uploaded to the Local App Local App checks patient context vs. exam s patient demographics Upload CD Images and reports coming in via the cloud Search results are displayed along with results of a patient ID check Check-in staff finds patient in the EHR (patient record) EHR passes on patient context EMR Smith, John Name, Sex, MRN, DOB ADD EAMS Search inbound exams Exam demographics are automatically updated to match Epic Name DOB Sex MRN Outside exam are now normalized and accessible in Epic EMR NAME DOB MRN 1/22/13 Arm R 10/3/12 Head CT 10/5/10 Brain MRI 4/12/10 Knee Ry 6/21/09 Spine CT 8/11/07 Head CT EMR Joan Smith 1/22/15 #12645982 Joan Smith 10/3/14 #12645982 Joan Smith 10/5/14 Joan Smith 4/12/14 Auto push the study to the PACS if study needs to be pushed to PACS #12645982 Local App purges the images after pushing to PACS Place order to push to PACS or secondary reads Study ready for gatekeeper approval Update Patient Demographics: Exams accessed through lifeimage are automatically standardized with your facility s identifiers for patient name, date of birth, gender and MRN. Patient Identity Check: lifeimage is in sync with the EMR, and will activity warn end-users about discrepancies between the internal and external patient demographics 7.
The End-User Experience: PACS View external exams - EMR users see a list of the outside studies associated with the patient, and can quickly and easily view individual exams in a zero-download DICOM viewer. Upload exams from CDs - Physicians and support staff can upload new exams from CDs by clicking a button embedded in the patient record. Link new exams from the network - Exams received electronically on the lifeimage network can be quickly linked to the local patient record. Import and order - Clinical end-users can initiate an electronic request for the outside exam to be committed to the facility s PACS, with or without placing a radiology order. 8.
Building for tomorrow In time, the lifeimage platform will expand to interoperate with additional clinical applications. Our goal is for clinicians to have access to exams from multiple sources right at their fingertips. Data may come from patients, partner facilities, or collaborative networks. What is on the horizon? MyChart MyChart Care Everywhere Image upload capabilities with MyChart - This will move outside image ingestion to the patient s home, saving providers and their staff even more time, and provide the opportunity to better triage care. Image distribution capabilities with MyChart Providers can meet goals for patient engagement and satisfaction by providing convenient, online access to their full imaging histories. Image exchange as part of Care Everywhere This will ensure that all clinicians caring for a patient - regardless of physical location - can coordinate care plans. Want to know more? Request a full consultation and demonstration of the lifeimage integration with the Epic system. lifeimage.com/epic 9.