Mobile and Internet Platform for Patients Supports Meaningful Use Objectives

A new mobile and Internet platform has been developer for consumers to choose a radiologist, arrange an appointment, and receive results electronically.

Merge Healthcare, Inc. (Chicago, IL, USA) will present a US mobile and internet platform for consumers and demonstrate how enterprise imaging solutions support achieving meaningful use (MU) objectives at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) held November 25-30, 2012, in Chicago (IL, USA).

The platform will also feature: a mobile application (app) for referring physicians to send patients to recommended imaging centers; a website for consumers to complete pre-work and schedule appointments; a cloud-based portal for imaging centers to share findings with referring physicians and patients; and analytics for practices to optimize throughput.

“We are proud of the fact that in 2011, 82 million imaging procedures were referred to current Merge customers,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. “Our goal with this new platform is to help close the loop between a referral and a patient receiving results while at the same time enabling our customers to grow their businesses to deliver the best patient care.”

This mobile and Internet platform will be available in early 2013 and will become the new merge.com. Merge Honeycomb has seen rapid adoption with more than 3.3 million studies in the cloud-based archive. Merge Honeycomb cloud-based applications are designed to help healthcare stakeholders collaborate and improve the delivery of care while reducing costs. The applications currently available via Merge Honeycomb include Merge Honeycomb archive, which allows the storing of medical images securely in the cloud and access them at any time, from anywhere.

Merge Honeycomb image sharing is a free application that enables any user to upload, download, view, and share medical images. “Image management in healthcare is very much in a state of reform, with HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996] requiring providers to keep retrievable exact copies of health information including images and meaningful use requiring that information is sharable,” said Mr. Surges. “With our expertise developed from more than 20 years of managing medical images and leading technology, Merge is uniquely positioned to deliver a secure, efficient, and accessible solution for archiving images in the cloud.”

Merge’s iConnect enterprise clinical platform is a range of image interoperability systems that improve workflow, lower costs, and reduce care delays by enabling access to any image, anywhere, 24/7, on any device. iConnect supports an enterprise-wide imaging strategy by providing access to medical images from any approved web-enabled device and facilitates the sharing of images between referring centers without the need for additional equipment or software. Components include: iConnect access, which is a zero-download image viewer; iConnect share: an Internet-gateway capable of receiving and morphing studies from outside the enterprise, allowing for prompt electronic transfer of images; and iConnect enterprise archive: a vendor-neutral archive (VNA) designed to create a patient-centric record of images across all sites and modalities, enabling clinicians to manage content from disparate storage systems.

To date, more than 50 clients have already attested or are in the attestation process using the web-based, feature-rich Merge radiology information system (RIS). Merge RIS is used to improve productivity and provide radiologists with the capability to capture and report on the metrics required to demonstrate MU of electronic health records (EHRs).

Merge RIS provides the functionality needed to achieve MU requirements, including (1) data collection: gather mandated patient data intuitively within the user’s preferred workflow; (2) reporting: access preconfigured, easy-to-use reports to assist with MU data submission; (3) patient portal, which provides patients with clinical summaries, electronic copies of their health information, educational information, and reminders; (4) lastly, ePrescribing, which qualifies for reimbursement.

At RSNA, Merge will be presenting the most recent version of Merge picture archiving and communication system (PACS), a real-time picture archiving communication system that enhances operational, clinical, and administrative functions with an approach that highlights workflow efficiency and customer satisfaction. Its modular design allows for easy integration with a wide assortment of third-party systems.

“With Merge PACS, radiologists can accelerate workflow, enabling them to operate with fewer resources,” said Mr. Surges. “And the ability to quickly and easily communicate and document results with referring physicians improves treatment time and helps expand referral networks.”

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