Instant “Cloud” Access to Medical Images Application Devised for Patients and Physicians

Patients can effectively grab their medical images from the “cloud,” making it faster for them to distribute them to their physicians regardless where those physicians might be, according to a preliminary report of an image share project that involves five different academic institutions.

The image share project includes the University of California, San Francisco (USA, University of Chicago (IL, USA), Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN, USA), the University of Maryland (Baltimore, MD, USA), and the Mount Sinai Medical Center (New York, NY, USA).

“The patient can arrange with their radiologists’ office to have their images and the radiology reports exported into an Internet-based personal health record [PHR],” said David Mendelson, MD, principal investigator of the image share project. Once the data are in the PHR, the patient has full control over distribution of the images and reports. Images can be viewed immediately online by signing into one’s PHR. Moreover, e-mail links can be sent to physicians, allowing them to view and download the images and reports as needed, according to Dr. Mendelson.

Patients are appreciative of this because they “own” the exam, said Dr. Mendelson. Physicians like this because they have anytime, anywhere access to images and reports, he said. A major benefit to everyone is that fast and easy access to the images and reports could “encourage appropriate utilization of imaging services and diminish the unnecessary radiation exposure secondary to the duplication of recent examinations because those previous examinations are not easily available to providers,” remarked Dr. Mendelson.

Confidentiality and security are of primary importance and the image share project has instituted safeguards to ensure both, according to Dr. Mendelson. One of the biggest hurdles that the project has had to surmount is ensuring that local Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) issues are addressed.

This is the first phase of the project; in phase two, patients will be allowed to share their images without the images first being uploaded to an Internet-based PHR. This is especially advantageous in the event of severe acute trauma, with transfer to a trauma center. In phase three, the data will be de-identified and then made available for clinical trials, Dr. Mendelson reported.

This updated report’s findings were presented at the American Roentgen Ray Society annual meeting held in April 2012 in Vancouver (BC, Canada).

Related Links:
University of California, San Francisco
University of Maryland
Mount Sinai Medical Center