Over the past few decades, technology has changed healthcare in numerous ways, but the most profound transformations are emerging in the mobile age. For centuries, medical help was available only from clinicians in close proximity to the patient. As technology advanced in the 20th century, medical professionals were able to collaborate at a distance but still faced limitations and delays that were an obstacle to quickly delivering the most effective care.
Now, thanks to advances in medical image management technologies and the widespread use of mobile platforms, clinicians have an opportunity to reimagine healthcare delivery again, this time operating in an ecosystem in which distance isn’t an obstacle to real-time diagnostic consultations and care team collaboration with colleagues on the other side of the globe. These new capabilities have empowered community health systems nationwide and nonprofit organizations around the world to completely rethink the way they deliver healthcare.
Partners in Health, an organization that serves the poor where the need is greatest, is using a cloud-based medical image management solution to ensure that geography isn’t barrier to eliminating diseases like tuberculosis and HIV in the developing world. With medical image management technology, doctors can conduct complex medical imaging studies in Haiti and share them instantly with volunteer radiologists in Boston to receive lifesaving consultations.
Seconds count for stroke victims, so Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Texas imagined a new way to deliver rapid assistance: The medical team set up a mobile stroke van capable of obtaining RT and CT images and sharing them with a waiting neurologist. The streamlined process enables targeted care that takes advantage of every second shaved off the time from neurological event to care team intervention.
Barrow Neurological Institute, a center of excellence that seeks to eliminate diagnostic errors by providing second opinions to patients as well as white-glove online consultations to clinicians, also deployed an advanced medical image management solution from DICOM Grid. The Institute was able to complete 950 second opinion requests, reviewing 180 cases onsite that resulted in 150 corrective procedures — a 16 percent conversion rate that is a win for doctors and patients.
Another medical image management strategy that illustrates the transformative power of new technology is the solution adopted by the Mayo Clinic. Up to 85 percent of the cases Mayo Clinic handles involve complex imaging. As healthcare became more distributed to specialized units, the importance of teamwork and collaboration across Mayo Clinic’s network became clearer. An advanced medical image management solution now helps Mayo Clinic handle their huge diagnostic volume more efficiently, eliminating wait times for patients and doctors.
In the past, one of the primary barriers to collaboration global nonprofits and community healthcare organizations faced was that image files and records were stored in incompatible systems. With new medical image management technologies, diagnostic imaging can be accessed anywhere, anytime and coordinated with medical records. This represents a true evolution in healthcare, allowing clinicians to refine medical image management strategies and, more importantly, reimagine quality care delivery.
Edited by
Kyle Piscioniere
