National Decision Support Company Expands Minnesota Presence

ANDOVER, Mass., Feb. 25, 2014 -- National Decision Support Company (NDSC) announced expansion of its growing customer base in Minnesota.

"Although we're seeing national and international interest for ACR Select, the state of Minnesota has been an appropriate imaging hot bed," said Michael Mardini, CEO, NDSC. "Much of this activity can be attributed to the long-standing use of American College of Radiology (ACR) Appropriateness Criteria ® to guide high-tech diagnostic image ordering and associated cost savings across the state."

Enacted in 2006, Minnesota's "decision support" strategy created a single set of standards for doctors to follow in deciding when their patients need potentially costly imaging services. It also created a green-yellow-red coding system to show patients when, and which, scans are recommended and when they are not. According to an article in the Minnesota Star Tribune, the use of such imaging procedures, which was growing at 7 percent annually, rose just 1 percent from 2007 to 2012. The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI), who managed the initial project, estimates that the medical-imaging protocol has prevented $234 million in questionable or unnecessary scans.

ACR Select is rapidly gaining adoption in Minnesota and more than 10 provider organizations across the state, including HealthEast, Centers for Diagnostic Imaging, and Suburban Imaging, have chosen the solution.

HealthEast, the largest health care provider in the Twin Cities' East Metro area, is implementing ACR Select as part of their Epic order entry workflow across inpatient, outpatient, and ED. "We were previously using a solution to obtain prior-authorizations for high-tech exams for outpatients, however, with our planned transition to Epic, it makes sense to be consistent in our approach to quality by implementing ACR Select for inpatient and ED as well," said Dr. Brian Patty, Chief Medical Informatics Officer, HealthEast. "NDSC's integration with Epic provides a simple way to adapt existing workflows across every care setting with integrated access to performance improvement metrics."

Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is yet another Minnesota provider tapping NDSC for imaging decision support as an integral part of their Epic workflow.  "Our implementation at HCMC marks the first of many Epic 2014 deployments for ACR Select," said Mardini.

The success of imaging decision support in the state has led to legislation that accepts the use of the ACR Select in lieu of Radiology Benefit Managers (RBM) for prior authorization of Medicaid patients.  According to Mardini, "ICSI's work has been instrumental in driving the value associated with imaging decision support and has led to strong bipartisan support fromMinnesota legislators for evidence-based clinical decision support."

In December 2013, Reps. Erik Paulsen (R- Minn.) and Jim Matheson (D-Utah) introduced legislation (H.R. 3705 - Excellence in Diagnostic Imaging Utilization Act of 2013) that would require physicians who receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement to use clinical decision support software.

"Using ACR Select in lieu of the RBM prior authorization model allows healthcare providers to deliver the same outcomes at a fraction of the cost and with less overhead," said Mardini. "ACR Select eliminates complexities associated with the current prior authorization process and makes the evidence and outcomes actionable, while exposing this critical data directly to the provider."

National Decision Support Company will be demonstrating its latest developments and offering free trial registration to the ACR Select portal at HIMSS 2014, booth #4235, February 24-26, 2014, Orlando, FL.

About National Decision Support Company

National Decision Support Company (NDSC) is the exclusive distributor of national standards clinical decision support (CDS) imaging guidelines. NDSC provides the technical platform, support, and licensing of digitally consumable CDS that continuously educates providers regarding the latest evidence-based approach to medicine without disrupting the doctor-patient relationship or delaying needed care. For more information, visit http://www.NationalDecisionSupport.com.

About ACR Select

ACR Select, provided by National Decision Support Company, is the complete web service version of American College of Radiology (ACR) Appropriateness Criteria® (AC). ACR AC is a comprehensive national standards clinical decision support database that provides evidence-based decision support for the appropriate utilization of all medical imaging procedures. More than 300 volunteer physicians, representing more than 20 radiology and non-radiology specialty organizations, participate on the ACR AC expert panels, continuously updating these nationally transparent guidelines, and providing real-time access to the latest medical imaging decision support. The ACR Select platform can be easily integrated with computerized ordering and electronic health record (EHR) systems so healthcare organizations can effortlessly consume ACR AC guidelines and ensure that the right patient gets the right scan for the right indication. For more information, visit http://www.ACRselect.org.