Everything is going digital. If you work in the healthcare industry, you know this better than anyone as
your organization struggles to digitize patient records. Most healthcare providers have already spent many, many hours digitalizing patient information for their Electronic Health Records and Health Information Exchanges.
The unfortunate aspect of digital integration is that the information itself, which includes medical images, is stuck in a silo where it gets no connectivity to outside sources that need access to the information. Even within an organization, there are connectivity issues from department to department. They have separate systems that don’t communicate to each other.
One of the problems the industry has in overcoming this communication problem is deeply rooted in a long-standing practice of keeping information under wraps. One survey carried out by eHealth Initiative revealed that of the nearly 200 providers surveyed; nearly 70 of them were required to connect to 10 different systems. The biggest challenge for around 75 of them was building a proper interface. Many of the organizations said they had trouble influencing other providers in the community to share information. Technological problems obviously aren’t the only issues facing the industry.
While technology changes at a fairly rapid pace, the software designed for the medical industry is not so quick to evolve. In fact, most of the software available today was engineered prior to various standards involving interoperability was enacted. For instance, HL7v2.X and CDA formats are being pushed by Federal agencies, but the software platforms aren’t quite there yet.
What healthcare providers really need is patient information to be actionable so doctors can provide the right treatment. One solution is to integrate CDS and analytics, which can help medical professionals in several areas, from doctors looking to records for clues on how to treat the patient to the finance manager who can create more accurate cost projections.
One of the more recent developments in the medical imaging industry has been the development of Honeycomb to assist medical professionals in their quest to create more efficient health image exchanges. Honeycomb is a software layer that connects disparate digital silos with ease. Organizations that are leery about sharing data can rely on Honeycomb’s stability when it comes to securing data workflow.
Honeycomb is just what the DICOM exchange has needed, especially as healthcare providers work to comply with Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements, which has a lot of new rules for radiologists.
OffSite Image Management has used Honeycomb technology in building health image exchanges in Missouri, Kansas, Louisiana and Michigan. OffSite has proven that the technology is not only useful in sharing important data, but it can also be used to store data securely in the cloud. Since it’s browser agnostic, it can be shared over any desktop, laptop, tablet computer or smartphone. To learn more about the solutions provided through offsite, visit us online today.