It's time to ditch the disc: 'Patients are ready' for online access to imaging
Demand for imaging services is as high or higher than it’s ever been, and patient care is increasingly being split between multiple physicians. With more providers now integrating imaging into their diagnostic processes, there is a greater need to improve the ease of access.
CDs just aren’t cutting it anymore, experts indicated during a panel discussion on enterprise imaging solutions at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine’s annual meeting last week.
“Patients rely on us to view their images before they’re even in clinic. We need access prior to or during the appointment. Not having it prolongs the entire care process,” shared Seetharam (Ram) Chadalavada, MD, a practicing interventional radiologist and vice chair of radiology–informatics at the University of Cincinnati. “Bringing CDs can be an arduous process. It almost adds a whole other appointment to that experience.”
Stacie Barnard, the director of integrated clinical systems, enterprise informatics, at University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), further elaborated on the issues with using discs for sharing imaging.
Barnard, who also has a background in nuclear medicine, said that at her organization, staff members proactively burn discs for patients after their exams, knowing that they will likely need to share them with at least one, but often multiple, other providers. And while burning a disc is fairly simple, it still involves a multi-step process that can be time intensive and take staff away from other clinical duties.
There also is the risk that discs become damaged or are lost in between patients’ appointments. This can cause delays in care if providers do not gain access to imaging prior to appointments, leaving them with inadequate time to review the exams. In some cases, this results in providers needing to schedule additional visits with patients that would have otherwise been unnecessary had they had access to imaging beforehand.
“We really need a situation where patients can just get online and view their images,” Barnard said, adding that appointments are less productive when imaging is not readily available.
Are patients ready for enterprise imaging platforms?
Enterprise imaging platforms improve the continuity of care by expanding access to patients’ data across multiple providers in multiple locations. They eliminate the headaches associated with using discs to share imaging and save time for both patients and providers.
In many cases, enterprise imaging platforms also can allow patients to view their own imaging, which has been proven to improve health literacy. One 2022 study determined that nearly 100% of patients surveyed would like access to their imaging, most of them noting that it would help give them a better grasp of their diagnosis and treatment.
However, some experts worry that relying solely on enterprise imaging platforms and eliminating discs altogether could leave some patients behind, particularly those who are elderly or less technologically adept.
Harsh Nayyar, co-founder and chief technology officer of PocketHealth, said that patients have been gradually adjusting to utilizing technology in relation to their health for many years, pointing to the use of electronic medical records, patient portals, appointment reminders and check-in processes involving tablets that many organizations have adopted.
“We can order food from the next city over in an instant; we should be able to manage our health with the same ease,” Nayyar said. “Patients just want to be ready for their appointment. When health systems understand that and make [patient] data readily available and able to follow them, it allows patients to just focus on getting better.”
Nayyar, Barnard and Chadalavada all agreed that if patients are unsure of how to navigate imaging platforms to view their studies, they likely have someone in their lives who can help. Administrative staff also can help patients learn how to access their images, the same way most of them already do with portal setups.
“Patients are ready for something that is online and more readily available,” Barnard said. "I think that many of them are tech savvy enough to utilize that sort of access."
For more SIIM 2024 coverage, visit Health Imaging’s imaging informatics page.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.