Medical imaging is critical for the detection and evaluation of cancer and other diseases. Routine screenings can reveal cancers or other afflictions, even when they not directly tested for. Using imaging, Radiologists must be able to assess disease path overtime to supply the best patient care.
Radiology and imaging have made leaps into the future by implementing groundbreaking methods of capturing images. Yet, throughout all this innovation, the actual scan transfer of patient imaging is still a manual process. Most hospitals, independent practices, and imaging centers still rely on compact discs (CDs) for image transfer.
At this moment, there are no standardized governing procedures to oversee the safe transfer of these images across health care systems. Hospitals keep copies of the images on site and burden patients to carry their own CDs. Radiologists may find themselves in a position where they lack access to the imaging needed to supply complete patient care.
In certain medical emergencies, time is a matter of life or death. Complete access to a patient’s medical records via a cloud PACS at the time of an emergency is essential. Trauma physicians rely on Radiologists to make executive decisions about the patient’s wellbeing. Instantaneous digital image sharing can dramatically improve the relevance of patient care, especially in the trauma setting. On-demand image transfer systems would help ditch the disk and solve these problems.
Injured patients have scans taken and assessed at smaller hospitals before being transferred to Level 1 trauma centers. Relying on CDs to share images can and does cause delays in care. Disks must be physically sent to the new hospital and uploaded to PACS before a Radiologist can review it. Creating and sending CDs is a manual and time-consuming process. This often leads to images being delivered late or causing them to be taken again. Repeating CTs unnecessarily increases a patient’s overall radiation exposure heightening their risk of having an adverse outcome due to radiation exposure.
DICOM Director supports the American College of Radiology to transition to cloud-based file-sharing. Our innovative solution SHARE XR digitally shares scans and large file types in minutes. Contact us to learn more about solutions that will help you achieve #ditchthedisk.
