Expert Panel Created to Provide Patient-Centric Solutions to Improve, Streamline Delivery of Care

A US medical company that develops enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions announced the development of an advisory board to share clinical expertise and provide consultation on new models of care and emerging trends focused on the patient-centric experience.

The Merge Healthcare (Chicago, IL, USA) advisory board will focus on the fact that diagnostic images make up a significant and critical part of the diagnostic process, yet today, the exchange and sharing of these images is inefficient. This inefficiency fragments the healthcare process, which contributes to delays in care and skyrocketing costs. The Merge advisory board will also address patient safety and quality of care through, among other things, focusing on the fact that patients’ radiation exposures has doubled over the past 20 years and developing systems that reduce such exposure.

Consider the realities of diagnostic imaging: healthcare organizations generate almost 600 million diagnostic imaging procedures yearly; one computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen exposes a patient to the same amount of radiation as approximately 400 chest X-rays; and US$100 billion of annual healthcare costs are related to diagnostic imaging tests--but an estimated 35% ($35 billion) represents unnecessary costs for US patients and insurance providers.

The Merge advisory board is led by Dr. Cheryl Whitaker, Merge’s chief medical officer; cochaired by Dr. Paul Chang, professor of radiology and vice chair, radiology informatics at the University of Chicago Medical Center (IL, USA); and Dr. Keith Dreyer, vice chairman of radiology informatics at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA, USA). “We are extremely fortunate to have experts from these prestigious organizations advising the Merge team,” said Jeff Surges, chief executive officer of Merge Healthcare. “We look forward to the clinical dialogue that will develop, and to incorporating their knowledge and expertise into the image interoperability solutions we provide to clients and the healthcare marketplace.”

“Merge believes in a patient-centric healthcare experience, and empowering physicians, patients and providers to proactively manage this healthcare,” said Dr. Cheryl Whitaker, chief medical officer at Merge Healthcare. “I look forward to working with this distinguished group of leaders to ensure we continue to develop solutions that simplify and improve the care process.”

The Merge Advisory Board consists of the following imaging and healthcare experts: Dr. William Boonn, chief of 3D and advanced imaging lab, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA, USA); John A. Carrino, MD, MPH, PhD, associate professor of radiology and orthopedic surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD, USA); Dr. Paul Chang, professor of radiology, vice chair, radiology informatics, University of Chicago Medical Center (IL, USA); Dr. Keith Dreyer, MD, PhD, vice chairman of radiology informatics, Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, MA, USA); David Mendelson, MD, chief of clinical informatics and professor of radiology, Mount Sinai Medical Center (New York, NY, USA); Eliot Siegel, MD, chief of radiology and nuclear medicine, Veterans Affairs Maryland Healthcare System (Baltimore, MD, USA); and Timothy Zoph, chief information officer and senior vice president of administration, Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago, IL, USA).

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