RSNA granted nearly $5M for piloting patient-controlled image network
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) has awarded the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) a contract totaling $4.7 million to design and launch a two-year pilot project--an Internet-based network for patient-controlled sharing of medical images.
The network, which will be based on an integration profile developed under the board of Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE), Cross-enterprise Document Sharing for Imaging (XDS-I), is said to enable sharing of medical documents and data across a group of affiliated enterprises, according to the society.
Medical research centers slated to participate in the first year of the program will be Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., the University of California, San Francisco, the University of Chicago and the University of Maryland in Baltimore.
Eight additional research centers, as well as several smaller community satellite sites will be added in the second year of program, said David S. Mendelson, MD, professor of radiology at Mount Sinai.
Patients at the participating sites will be educated on personal health records, (PHRs) in terms of starting a PHR account for the creation of a personalized Internet-based medical history that will allow the patients to view, retrieve, archive and share their medical images, reports and other documents.
RSNA said that this initiative could potentially reduce patients’ radiation exposure by reducing unnecessary exams and possibly enabling patients to make more informed medical decisions.
"The goal of the project is to provide patients with the interoperability necessary for easy, secure access to medical data and control of medical information," said Mendelson. “The pilot will highlight the role medical imaging should play in any comprehensive EHR program."
The network, which will be based on an integration profile developed under the board of Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE), Cross-enterprise Document Sharing for Imaging (XDS-I), is said to enable sharing of medical documents and data across a group of affiliated enterprises, according to the society.
Medical research centers slated to participate in the first year of the program will be Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., the University of California, San Francisco, the University of Chicago and the University of Maryland in Baltimore.
Eight additional research centers, as well as several smaller community satellite sites will be added in the second year of program, said David S. Mendelson, MD, professor of radiology at Mount Sinai.
Patients at the participating sites will be educated on personal health records, (PHRs) in terms of starting a PHR account for the creation of a personalized Internet-based medical history that will allow the patients to view, retrieve, archive and share their medical images, reports and other documents.
RSNA said that this initiative could potentially reduce patients’ radiation exposure by reducing unnecessary exams and possibly enabling patients to make more informed medical decisions.
"The goal of the project is to provide patients with the interoperability necessary for easy, secure access to medical data and control of medical information," said Mendelson. “The pilot will highlight the role medical imaging should play in any comprehensive EHR program."