Image-Enabled Enterprise EMR Solution Provides Anywhere, 24/7 Access from Any Browser

An electronic medical record (EMR) provides a true “zero-footprint” image viewing capability and can be embedded into many third-party products. iConnect Access is part of the iConnect suite, which collects, archives, views, shares, and exchanges any type of image, anywhere, at any time.

Merge Healthcare, Inc. (Chicago, IL, USA), a provider of clinical systems, announced that Franciscan Alliance, Inc. (Mishawaka, IN, USA) has selected Merge Healthcare’s iConnect Access to image-enable their EMR and provide real-time access to radiology and cardiology images and information across its network of 13 hospitals in the US states of Indiana and Illinois.

“As part our ongoing EMR implementation, we knew that to ensure physician adoption of the EMR, we needed to also provide easier access to patient images,” explained Bill Laker, senior vice president of information services and CIO of Franciscan Alliance, Inc. “Our physicians, like all physicians, are incredibly busy and mobile, so it was important that they could access images from any workstation within the clinic as well as through their mobile devices, including iPads and iPhones, without having to manage software.”

“With the proposed stage 2 requirements that focus heavily on the viewing of diagnostic images, large health systems will need to look at image-enabling their enterprise EMRs,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. “The fact that Franciscan Alliance, Inc. is providing access to both radiology and cardiology images not only ensures that they are prepared for stage II, but will also help to facilitate high physician adoption of their EMR.”

“Additionally, while we were looking for a way to improve our image-enabling capabilities, we were pleased to realize that not only could we provide anywhere, anytime access to radiology images--our original goal--but that iConnect Access could also connect to our archive of cardiology images,” Mr. Laker continued. “This was not something that we initially expected but was one of the factors that we used in deciding to purchase iConnect.”

The system also includes iConnect Share, an Internet-based gateway for imaging sharing between enterprises, and iConnect VNA (vendor-neutral archive), which creates an enterprise imaging strategy. It works with existing applications, leveraging widely used web and healthcare technology standards, to provide a vendor neutral interoperable environment.

iConnect Access is not US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared for diagnostic use on mobile devices.

Related Links:
Merge Healthcare
Franciscan Alliance