ECR 2013.indd - Agfa HealthCare

“The addition of pre-diagnostic,diagnostic, treatment, anddescriptive imaging data givesa truly integrated view of thecontinuity of care.”Charles Morris,ICIS US Market Segment Manager“We wanted to create a platformsolution composed of Agfa HealthCaretechnologies that were pre-integratedtogether in a particular way so thatwhen we encounter a department thathas gaps along the chain of acquiring,viewing, interpreting, storing andsharing images, we can offer them acomplete workflow. And that workflowleverages technology that is in placeor provides supplemental technologyto produce a high-quality, intelligentimaging study that is ready for EHRintegration.”“ICIS has workflow components forcapturing image sources that do notadhere to DICOM standards, creatingmetadata around them and deliveringthem to the same Vendor NeutralArchive as the more traditionalimaging generated by departments likeradiology,” explains Knizhnik. “So if wego back to our surgery example, wherethe emergency department is recordingimages with their digital camera,ICIS can store those images alongsidetraditional DICOM images and makeboth accessible to everyone through theEHR.”ICIS also includes Agfa HealthCare’swidely adopted regional health portfoliothat enables the creation of imagesharing networks across administrativeor geographical boundaries. Thisprovides radiologists and clinicians withaccess to the patient’s entire radiologyhistory irrespective of the originatingradiology department. Moreover, itenables health authorities to optimizethe utilization of both radiologistand radiology equipment by allowingan “acquire anywhere – report fromanywhere” workflow.ICIS has the clinical breadth to crossthe 3 primary care settings: inpatient,ambulatory/outpatient and physician’soffices. Since each environment deliverscare differently (encounter-basedmedicine vs. schedule-based medicinevs. office appointments), ICIS supportstheir unique workflow in order tosuccessfully acquire images.ICIS is for everyone“In a way, ICIS is really the secondfrontier of the EHR,” says Morris. “Theprimary health record is the singlemost important thing we can do forpatients. And then right behind it is theimaging record. All hospitals need thistechnology.”ICIS offers a vendor neutral architectureand support for multiple patient IDdomains. What this enables is the abilityto provide a comprehensive patienthealth record across departments withina single facility or between multiplefacilities. Hospital groups, IntegratedDelivery Networks (IDN), or public andprivate health information exchangescan develop and effectively share unifiedpatient records containing both imagesand textual information.“ICIS enables healthcare organizationsto share imaging information acrossregional, facility, departmental andtechnical boundaries,” says Magyar.“This allows them to focus on theirprimary mission of care delivery.”In this era of increasing regulatorypressures and efficiency focus, gettingimages out of departmental silos and infront of the physicians who need themjust makes sense. Adding an imaginglayer to the EHR with ICIS can deliverfar-reaching benefits that go above andbeyond expedited delivery of care andimproved clinical confidence. Surgeonscan use it to enhance their preparationprocess. Primary care physicians canleverage it to deliver more detailed,image-rich patient consultations.Physicians can access it to streamlinetheir collaborations, even in emergencymedical situations. Plus having theimages in the EHR where authorizedstakeholders can access them helpseliminate the cost- and labor-intensiveprocess of ordering duplicate imagingprocedures.“You don’t need to wait until your EHRis up and running to think about imageenablement,” advises Knizhnik. “Ifyou’re in the process of implementingyour EHR, or even if you’re just in theplanning stages, it is a good time tohave a conversation about ICIS. GettingAgfa HealthCare involved earlier in theprocess is beneficial because we can helpmake important decisions regardingthe acquisition, discovery and access ofimaging and non-imaging data.”Industry-first image enablementICIS is a unique solution in the industrytoday. “The healthcare market is nowfully appreciating the value of managingimages in the EHR,” says Knizhnik.“Agfa HealthCare is in a great positionto leverage the experience we havegained over the past 15 years improvingimage and information managementfor the radiology world. We have theexperience, expertise and products tomake it happen.”“We don’t just think about imagemanagement from the perspective ofthe radiologist,” says Magyar. “We havebeen stretching beyond that perspectivefor some time and considering howimaging affects the overall quality, costand effectiveness of care. Any number ofvendors will sell you a place to store yourimages. That’s not good enough. Thetrue value comes in having a solutionthat gives physicians access to storedimages from all sources in the contextof the EHR. That’s what makes ICISdifferent and so powerful.”“Someone might ask why physiciansneed images in the EHR now when theircurrent methods have served them forso long. Diagnoses still happen, peoplereceive the care that they need,” saysMorris. “It is one of those you-don’tknow-what-you’ve-been-missing-untilyou-have-itscenarios. Once physicianshave access to the image-enabled EHR,just try taking it away. They won’t letyou.” Agfa HealthCare has alreadyenabled sharing of imaging data forcustomers in Europe, Brazil, Canada,and the United States. ICIS is globallyavailable to healthcare organizationseverywhere.“ICIS enables healthcareorganizations to share imaginginformation across regional,facility, departmental andtechnical boundaries. Thisallows them to focus ontheir primary mission of caredelivery.”Chris Magyar,Head of the ICIS Business Unit for the US RegionTHERE 17