Dear Enterprise Imaging Insider,
Welcome to the first Insider for our new Enterprise Imaging Community! We've rebranded the old Imaging Informatics Community to reflect the rapidly growing interest in enterprise imaging.
One of the key benefits of enterprise imaging is the ability to integrate nonradiology images such as visible light images in the electronic medical record. Providing physicians with easier access to more patient information can yield significant clinical dividends. For example, researchers from Emory University recently found that radiologists detected wrong-patient errors and read portable radiography exams faster when they were able to view patient photos taken at the same time the radiograph was acquired. You can read all about it in this month's Insider Exclusive.
Cybersecurity is on everyone's minds these days. To help healthcare institutions strengthen their defenses against cyberattacks, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a draft practice guide to help achieve PACS security. The guide, produced by the NIST's National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, details a reference architecture for how to securely configure and deploy PACS.
The NIST guide seems particularly topical given a recent report that medical images and related data -- including, in some cases, Social Security numbers -- for more than 5 million patients in the U.S. were recently found to be publicly available over the internet. The investigation by German security firm Greenbone Networks, nonprofit journalism organization ProPublica, and German public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk identified 187 servers in the U.S. that were left unprotected without passwords or basic security precautions.
Radiologists can use enterprise imaging to create value, according to a recent webinar held by the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine. They can accomplish this in a number of ways, including sharing imaging technology and workflow knowledge, accessing all images to improve interpretation, and supporting quality initiatives outside of radiology -- particularly for point-of-care ultrasound, said Dr. Cheryl Petersilge.
Encounter-based imaging -- such as point-of-care ultrasound, medical photos, and endoscopy images -- is an important consideration for developing enterprise imaging strategies. Luke Bideaux of Vega Imaging Informatics shares some approaches for addressing the unique challenges of encounter-based image management in an article. In another column, Bideaux discusses how imaging informatics professionals can serve as expert witnesses in medical imaging informatics-related legal cases.
Also, a recent study concluded that structured reports for MRI scans of glioma patients were more consistent and easier to understand than conventional free-text reports.
Do you have an idea for a story you'd like to see covered in the Enterprise Imaging Community? As always, please feel free to drop me a line.
