By: Mark Newburger, President & CEO at Apollo. “Enterprise Imaging” is the new buzz word these days. As used in a clinical setting, it is generally limited to x-rays, CTs or MRIs. In reality, it should encompass ALL patient clinical multimedia (i.e., pictures, video, and audio) collected across the enterprise: Enterprise Patient Multimedia. A complete patient multimedia set is an important catalyst for engaging patients, addressing patient safety, providing better care, and connecting providers.

1. “Enterprise Imaging”is the new buzz word these days. As used
in a clinical setting, it is generally limited to x-rays, CTs or MRIs.
In reality, it should encompass ALL patient clinical multimedia
(i.e., pictures, video, and audio) collected across the enterprise:
Enterprise Patient Multimedia. A complete patient multimedia
set is an important catalyst for engaging patients, addressing
patient safety, providing better care, and connecting providers.
Mark Newburger, President & CEO
So, You Think You
Are Addressing
Enterprise Imaging?
A provider looking at a health record
that does not include pictures or
video is limited to learning about the
patient by reading the descriptions
that happen to be integrated into
the record.
Besides being a potentially
incomplete data set, this
interpretation is a second-hand
account, no matter how valuable, and
incorporates any biases the observer
had while coming to a conclusion and
creating the description. Multimedia
provides a record of what was
actually observed during interactions
with the patient, giving the provider
the visual or aural evidence they need
for a complete and unbiased“view”of
the patient’s data.
It is a truism that“a picture is worth a
thousand words.” The number may
not be accurate but the sentiment
is meaningful. With pictures, video,
and audio as part of the clinical
workflow, providers are securely
enabled to more effectively interact
with and treat their patients. Clinical
multimedia also enables providers to
collaborate remotely and enhances
medical education, grand rounds,
tumor board, quality assurance,
quality control, and research.These
benefits can only be fully achieved
when digital imaging/multimedia
is fully integrated into the specialty-
specific workflows of each clinician.
The Multimedia Continuum within
healthcare consists of three classes:
êDiagnostic Imaging
êClinical Multimedia
êDocument Imaging
Diagnostic Images are typically
pictures or studies which a provider
reviews to make a diagnosis.
Radiology is the best example of
this as x-rays, MRIs, and CTs provide
pictures of a patient to illustrate
something the diagnosing radiologist
cannot see by looking at the patient.

2. A 9
IF YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW MORE, PLEASE CONTACT US:
CALL: 703-288-1474 VISIT: WWW.APOLLOPACS.COM
Document Images are simply digital
paper that is primarily related to“back
office”processes like billing, policy
management, and reimbursement. A
significant percentage of Document
Images have become part of the clinical
setting when interacting
with patients.
Clinical Multimedia is about pictures,
video and audio that provide a record
of what has been observed by the
provider when interacting with the
patient. Examples include Pathology,
Dermatology, GI and other specialties
capturing multimedia.This includes a
wide variety of clinicians from virtually
all specialties.The provider can use
this multimedia for many different
purposes more effectively than with
previously available tools. One of the
most prevalent means of collecting this
data is via the tools almost everyone –
patient or provider – has at hand, the
smart phone. Mobile devices can be a
valuable tool for collecting information
securely, simply, and effectively in
real time.
The above is a continuum.
Incorporating these objects into the
patient record provides a clinician with
a 360° view of the patient.This ensures
a more effective and efficient process
for diagnosis and patient care.There
are systems available for managing
each of the above classes, but even
thebestofthesecreatedatasilosboth
throughoutahealthcareorganization
andwithineachpatient’srecord.
With the current push for a unified
perspective of the patient, healthcare
organizations are trying to eliminate
silos. The first phase of this was to
bring information into a vendor neutral
archive.The second was to include
all the multimedia in the electronic
The Complete Picture of Health®
medical record. Both of these
approaches incur tremendous costs
and inefficiencies in both human and
technical terms.
A comprehensive enterprise
multimedia management strategy
is necessary. Certain departments
may need a dedicated solution to
manage their multimedia effectively
at the department level, as well as
part of the clinical workflow, but an
enterprise strategy is the only way to
create the truly unified patient record
and to maximize its benefit to the
patient, the provider, and the entire
organization.
No one system can support this
entire implementation. Legacy
systems such as the Electronic
Medical Record (EMR), Picture
Archiving and Communications
System (PACS), Document
Management System, Laboratory
Information System (LIS) and the
like still create silos of information
and do not support the workflows
necessary to incorporate multimedia
from across the healthcare enterprise
in a unified record without significant
complexity and risk.
The response to this need was
to create a new class of solutions
dubbed“Enterprise Imaging.”The
first wereVendor Neutral Archives
(VNAs). These create an index to the
various objects created in the other
systems across the enterprise but do
not provide the workflows to acquire,
manage, and utilize these objects.
It is not enough to just manage
storage. A complete solution requires
the specialty-specific workflows
to enable clinicians to effectively
add and use multimedia within the
unified patient record.The answer
is a unified software solution with
an enterprise perspective that
works alongside other enterprise
systems. Apollo spent many years
working with clinicians to develop
and test this long-sought solution.
Apollo EPMM® (Enterprise Patient
Multimedia), and its associated
mobile capture app, evolved from
specialty-specific implementations
and has been in enterprise use for
five years in clinical settings in the
US and Canada. Apollo EPMM does
more than just manage storage, it
enables multimedia management
and specialty-specific workflow
services in a unified solution. Unlike
aVNA, Apollo EPMM works the
way clinicians work within their
preferred workflow: every specialty
can share, edit, and maintain all of
the patient multimedia across the
continuum through ONE solution
while preserving department-based
investments and best practices.
Currently incorporating 45 specialty-
specific workflows, and able to easily
add virtually any others, Apollo EPMM
provides clinicians access to their
patients’clinical multimedia and data
in real-time in a single solution.
As digital healthcare evolution moves
forward, hospitals and health systems
continue to struggle conserving
financial, IT, and personnel resources.
It is important to consider the whole
picture – Apollo EPMM - rather than
piecemeal solutions that may not
interface smoothly, are difficult to
administer, introduce risk, and are
uncertain to smoothly pave the way
to the future. n