Coming to Grips with Archiving Structured Data (HL7)
In this age of digital technology and constant connection to the Internet, one would think that gaining access to medical ima
ging and archiving structured data (HL7) would be hassle free. However, many providers find that electronic medical records are not easy to access, and there are a number of reasons for this.
One of the reasons radiologists have a difficult time accessing and reading electronic medical records is that they are in an application separate from the PACS. Furthermore, the records aren’t integrated in such a way that the patients’ history can be accessed automatically. The result has been a decrease in the amount of clinical information being shared in the healthcare community.
Radiologists face a couple of major challenges today. One of which involves archiving structured data (HL7), and another is communicating recommendations and follow up on those recommendations. For instance, radiologists frequently make recommendations, but many don’t have the kind of technology in place that will give them the ability to monitor these recommendations to see if they’ve been followed up on. What would help radiologists is if they were able to make diagnostic imaging discoverable through intelligent algorithms.
Archiving structured data (HL7) in radiology can assist in easing the pain medical professionals are feeling today. There is an incredible wealth of data in radiology reports, structured and unstructured, which needs to be tagged and indexed so that it is more easily archived, accessed and shared with other providers.
Data in the healthcare industry is growing day by day. Medical images represent a big portion of this data, which is why archiving structured data (HL7) is such an important issue. HL7 is a format of communication that has been established worldwide. Structured data includes medical records that need to be accessible across disparate systems. Unfortunately, thanks to the proprietary architecture in many hospitals and clinics, the transfer of medical data doesn’t always happen like it should. The vendors that are getting it right are taking a new approach.
The new approach to archiving structured data (HL7) involves capturing the data as it moves, which means every message that is sent from a system is captured and the archive is updated with every change that occurs with a patients’ medical history.
Structured data is coded – every line of it. Anytime an HL7 message is sent, either to another department or to another facility, that message should be totally structured, which means that should a server fail or a natural disaster occur, the vendor can take that structured information and make it usable and accessible for the client.
OffSite Image Management, Inc. has solutions to the problems many radiologists and IT professionals have today. By simply logging into our system, clients get full view of their structured data. Our safeguards help assure the information you rely on to better serve your patients is available, regardless of disasters, natural or otherwise. Contact us today and find out how we can assist you.