4. Yet acceptable when it comes to
medical imaging
PATIENT NAME: ____________
DATE OF BIRTH: ____________
IMAGE TYPE: _______________
MEDICAL
IMAGES
Privacy and patient security policy. This
is a sample Medical imaging CD.
Privacy and patient security policy. This
is a sample Medical imaging CD.
Privacy and patient security policy.
5. Medical imaging today
imaging center
images
transferred
via CDs
Image viewers do not
image viewers don’t talk to
talk to each other
each other
siloed PACS
connected by CDs
provider
low patient
engagement
patient
6. Costs of CDs
• Patient: days before CD
is ready for pick up
• Provider: 10-15 min to
open and view a CD
• Imaging center: 5-10
minutes to burn each
CD
• Delayed appointments;
rescheduling
Cost per patient
grows with additional
images
Imaging centers
•45K~50K patients / year
•$12-$16 per CD
•$540K~$800K / year
PATIENT NAME: ____________
DATE OF BIRTH: ____________
IMAGE TYPE: _______________
MEDICAL
IMAGES
Privacy and patient security policy. This
is a sample Medical imaging CD.
Privacy and patient security policy. This
is a sample Medical imaging CD.
Privacy and patient security policy.
8. Potential risks to patient safety
The average American is
exposed to ~3mSv from
natural sources over the
course of a year
per patient dosage
grows with additional
images
Note: * estimates only, actual amount of radiation varies by weight and other factors
Source: Cancer.org
22. Improved access to
second opinions
% that resulted in change
•45%, in diagnostic reads
•29%, in pathology results
•52%, in treatment
recommendations
Newman, et al. Cancer 2006.
Sharing information today has never been easier. We text, tweet, blog, comment, like, Poke, share pictures, email, and if we’re really out of luck, pick up the phone and make an old fashioned phone call. Methods of communication are so ubiquitous that we actually feel discomfort when we find ourselves in a situation where connectivity is
slow… or lacking.
Workstations, used to view and transfer data, are, on average, replaced every 8 years. And data in the form of images is often transferred manually, by patients, via compact disc.
Yet, while it is ironic that we have so far been unable to accomplish a similar seamless transfer of data, it is understandable given:
Siloed PACS, siloed image viewers, and siloed methods of transportation. Improvements in our IT infrastructure have been stalled farther by HIPAA rules and regulations.
Let’s first take a look at the time costs created by an inefficient system.
Patients must wait a few to several days before their images are ready for pick up; it takes providers 10-15 min to open and view a patient’s images… each time a new CD is requested, atechnician may take 5-10 minutes to burn a new CD. And this is all assuming the CD works – if corrupt, incompatible with different software, or lost – patients and providers incur the time cost of delayed appointments, rescheduling and reordering.
Now let’s look at the financials. Let’s take a bay area radiology group with 45 to 50k patients per year. assuming a $12 cost per CD for staff time, materials, shipping, we are already at $540K - $800K per year on CD manufacturing and shipping alone, and that’s assuming each patient only requires 1 CD. This figure grows as we manufacture and send CDs to not only the patient, but physician, insurance companies, clinical trial enrollment, lawyers and so on…
On top of the time and financial costs, an estimated 10-20% of these images are unnecessary, repeat scans reordered simply due to lack of awareness of prior studies, loss of the original media, or inaccessibility to the existing imaging study.
It has been estimated that between $3 and $10 billion are wasted in the United States annually on unnecessary or duplicative imaging Studies.
Without complete records, providers may be forced to run a second (or third) scan. In the case of a repeat CT, the patient gets hit with an extra dose of ionizing radiation.
FURTHER INFO [not presentation]
From Cancer.org:
Much of natural exposure comes from radon, a natural gas w/ levels that vary from one part of the country to another; living at a higher altitude increases a person’s exposure… a 10-hour airline flight increases cosmic ray exposure by about 0.03 mSv; smoking a pack of cigarettes a day exposes the smoker to an extra 53 mSv per year.
So these are the issues… Now, what can we do about it?
What if, we no longer relied on CDs to transfer images at all… leading to…
What if, a coach could pull up a player’s latest scan results before an athlete heads back onto the field;
What if all providers could pull up a patients images real-time to discuss side by side, ensuring the patient fully understands his/her diagnosis;
Engage patients
What if, individuals could easily track radiation exposure and receive dosage alerts for themselves or for loved ones, prompting them to engage with their health;
What if, a PCP in Canada, could discuss a patient’s CT scan with a leading oncology specialist in Japan, and interventional radiologist right here in Beverly Hills to deliver the most appropriate care;
So these are the issues… Now, what can we do about it?
Patients and their caregivers retain ownership and management of their medical imaging records
A patient’s prior images are available at the point of care, so that imaging studies are not repeated or ordered unnecessarily
Ensure smooth transitions of care, so that patients are not scrambling to gather their medical images when they visit a new provider
Enable a coach could pull up a player’s latest scan results before an athlete heads back onto the field;
We could provide remote consultations to clinics and patients around the world
these are the ideas we are working on here at Nephosity, and we’re so excited about the future of medical imaging.
Thank you all for listening!