As more and more providers look to enable the secure exchange of electronic health information in conjunction with other health information technology that doesn’t require any special effort on from the user, interoperability is a major focus today. Interoperability not only connects different healthcare systems, it also helps improve patient satisfaction.
Healthcare is a multifaceted process with many different “moving parts” that must, at some point, have a connection. The connection isn’t always easily made. For example, think about how PACS in one department fails to properly communicate with a PACS in a disparate department – this is an area that can be improved upon by utilizing the right solutions, which weren’t available that long ago.
Focusing on the Patient
In the course of a patient’s treatment, they might visit several specialists in different fields and perhaps even in different locations. From a doctor’s office to a radiology center, fitness centers to pharmacies, they all play a part in the patient’s role to better health. When communication lacks in any part of the process, it impacts the patient’s ability to get the care they were expecting.
If you’re still using CDs to burn x-rays onto, this can be part of the failure to communicate properly. If the patient has to take their CD from one specialist to the next, they’re taking on a burden that can easily be erased through more modern, cloud-based imaging solutions.
Images in the Cloud
If you’re looking to jump on a faster path to interoperability, consider a cloud-based provider of radiology services. For the provider that has experienced the issues related to CD burning, a cloud-based vendor can provide fast, easy and an even more budget-friendly method of accessing images, which means the patient no longer has to play courier, taking their CDs from one specialist to the next.
At OffSite Image Management, our services have for years made the goal of reaching interoperability an easier task. HL7 interfaces, DICOM migration, routing and manipulation, vendor neutral archiving (VNA) and our image exchange have all been key for providers that struggled previously with interoperability.
While we offer a hybrid approach, our cloud-based services are very popular with our clients. A number of our clients were able to quickly phase out their CD burning technology once they adopted our PACS services, which includes VNA. This is a huge hit with patients who were frustrated by improperly burned, damaged or lost CDs.
Learn more about all of the interoperability solutions we have to offer by contacting us today.
