lifeIMAGE Discussions - radRounds Radiology Network2024-03-29T00:11:30Zhttps://community.radrounds.com/group/lifeimage/forum?feed=yes&xn_auth=noIn the Nick of Time - Streamlining Diagnostic Imaging in the ERtag:community.radrounds.com,2010-06-08:1791588:Topic:663672010-06-08T15:06:38.581ZJackie Walshhttps://community.radrounds.com/profile/JackieWalsh
<br></br><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.rt-image.com/In_the_Nick_of_TIME_Streamlining_diagnostic_imaging_in_the_ER/content=9504J05E48B6569040B696764488A0441"><img src="http://www.rt-image.com/uploads/images/Cover060710_200xwhatever.jpg"></img></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.rt-image.com/In_the_Nick_of_TIME_Streamlining_diagnostic_imaging_in_the_ER/content=9504J05E48B6569040B696764488A0441">In the Nick of Time - Streamlining Diagnostic Imaging in the ER</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br></br></p>
<div class="byline">By: Bob…</div>
<br/><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.rt-image.com/In_the_Nick_of_TIME_Streamlining_diagnostic_imaging_in_the_ER/content=9504J05E48B6569040B696764488A0441"><img src="http://www.rt-image.com/uploads/images/Cover060710_200xwhatever.jpg"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.rt-image.com/In_the_Nick_of_TIME_Streamlining_diagnostic_imaging_in_the_ER/content=9504J05E48B6569040B696764488A0441">In the Nick of Time - Streamlining Diagnostic Imaging in the ER</a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br/></p>
<div class="byline">By: Bob Stott</div>
<br style="clear: both;"/><div class="date" style="margin: 0pt;">06.07.10</div>
<br />
<br/><p>As the emergency helicopter makes its final descent onto the hospital roof, the surgical team brace themselves against the blast of stabbing
cold wind. The call had come in an hour earlier from one of the<br />
hospital’s rural satellite facilities:</p>
<p><br/></p>
<p>A young skier had been caught in an avalanche, and buried amid a dense stand of small trees under 3 feet of debris for several hours.
After an extensive search and rescue operation, the skier was found<br />
alive but suffering from severe hypothermia, a badly broken left leg and<br />
arm, and multiple internal injuries.</p>
<p><br/></p>
<p>Three members of the air medical team are out of the helicopter and pushing the gurney along the helipad even before the helicopter has
fully landed. As the surgical team takes possession of the IV bag and<br />
heart rate monitor, the air medical team leader shouts over the roar of<br />
helicopter blade, “the patient has a weak pulse and had lost<br />
consciousness during the transfer.” There is no time to lose.</p>
<p>The surgical team rushes the gurney inside and, seconds later, the air medical team is back in the helicopter and lifting off. Jogging
alongside the gurney, the youngest member of the surgical team shuffles<br />
hastily through the paperwork in the folder the air medical team leader<br />
had given her. Inside the folder, she skims through the patient’s<br />
medical charts, an EKG printout, emergency transfer orders signed in<br />
triplicate, and forms from the satellite facility – but where are the<br />
patient’s medical images?</p>
<p><strong>Seconds to Lose</strong></p>
<p>In an emergency, when every second counts, today’s trauma professionals need to have all available information before they can
proceed – and nowhere is that need more evident than in an emergency<br />
transfer to another hospital. Dealing with possible internal injuries<br />
and unseen complications caused by these injuries, healthcare<br />
professionals need to have access to the patient’s most recent medical<br />
images to know what is happening beneath the surface. While film images<br />
had been the most common (and tangible) medium to convey patient<br />
information, in an age of digital imaging, the CD has become the most<br />
widely used vehicle for sharing exams across non-<br/>
networked sites. However, the CD is not without its pitfalls.</p>
<p>Able to hold dozens of patient images and give receiving trauma teams a better view of the patients, nevertheless, CDs are known to be
unreliable, contain problematic third-party viewers, and allow limited<br />
sharing. Some receiving trauma centers are forced to re-image transfer<br />
patients simply because the staff cannot access the contents of a CD, or<br />
the exams on the CD cannot be transferred to the PACS or EMR.</p>
<p>Moreover, this is not an isolated problem. A December 2009 study in <em>The American Journal of Surgery</em> found that more than 53 percent of
trauma patients undergo duplicate imaging exams after being transferred –<br />
a staggering statistic considering that an estimated 500,000 adult<br />
patients are transported to hospitals for major trauma each year in the<br />
United States.<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Streamlining the Process</strong></p>
<p>According to Frederick Millham, MD, chairman of the Massachusetts State Trauma Committee and chairman of the department of surgery at
Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Mass., “Severely injured patients<br />
are routinely referred to trauma centers after receiving initial<br />
treatment and imaging exams at a referring institution. These patients<br />
arrive at the trauma center with CD or film copies of their exams,<br />
though sometimes in the haste to transfer critically ill patients the<br />
images do not make the trip.”</p>
<p>He adds, “Frankly, with all the advances in medical technologies, connecting trauma centers and referring facilities to a secure network
for sharing vital information does not seem like a huge leap, but it is<br />
one we have yet to take. A reliable, secure system that offers<br />
radiographs at optimal resolution instantaneously will be a great<br />
advantage over the present process.”</p>
<p>In an attempt to streamline the treatment of trauma patients and cut down on the excessive cost of duplicate imaging, one company is taking
Milham’s observations to heart. </p>
<p>lifeIMAGE, a Newton, Mass.-based provider of medical image e-sharing platforms, recently announced the release of its Internet-based Trauma
Image Management & Exchange (TIME), intended to improve the way<br />
critical diagnostic imaging information is shared during emergency<br />
transfers. A strategic clinical tool, TIME allows trauma centers to<br />
securely collect diagnostic images, reports, and other relevant files<br />
from referring facilities via secure Internet.</p>
<p>TIME avoids rescanning transfer cases because the prior exams will already be in an electronic, standardized format and can be easily
shared within the hospital and imported to its PACS if necessary.</p>
<p>“When imaging CDs accompany the patient as they travel to the receiving hospital, or when patients are inappropriately transferred to
another facility, valuable time is wasted,” says Hamid Tabatabaie,<br />
president and CEO of lifeIMAGE. “By electronically receiving imaging<br />
information before a transfer is even initiated, trauma centers can<br />
remotely consult on cases early, avoid unnecessary transfers, and<br />
improve the speed and accuracy with which trauma decisions are made.”<br/>
<br/>
<strong>Taking TIME in an Emergency</strong></p>
<p>TIME is a trauma-specific application of lifeIMAGE’s lila DropBox™ product, a service which allows sending sites to quickly e-share
diagnostic image data with trauma centers with an Internet <br/>
connection and Web browser.</p>
<p>When a trauma center learns that an outside facility would like to initiate a transfer or remote consultation, it generates dynamic
credentials for the sending site to start uploading exam data to its<br />
secure, cloud-based trauma DropBox.</p>
<p>“TIME does not require that the sending site have a relationship with lifeIMAGE – or even a virtual private network connection,” says
Tabatabaie. “Image data is securely uploaded to the receiving trauma<br />
team’s DropBox, where clinicians and administrators at the trauma center<br />
can view, and if desired, download them to their local system.”</p>
<p>Imaging information can be instantly and securely shared with the receiving site’s trauma DropBox, where clinicians and administrators can
preview and examine images. TIME also provides workflow for receiving<br />
trauma centers to incorporate outside exams into patients’ internal<br />
medical records. Additionally, trauma centers’ frequent sending sites<br />
may opt to deploy the lifeIMAGE Smart Agent (lisa™), a small application<br />
that can be used by affiliated referring sites for advanced uploading<br />
capabilities.</p>
<p>According to Tabatabaie, “With lisa, the referring site can query and retrieve imaging data directly from a PACS or modality. lisa allows the
referring facility to include non-DICOM files or to convert files to<br />
DICOM for inclusion with the patient’s imaging studies [such as]<br />
reports, discharge summary, medication history, allergy information, or<br />
photos and non-DICOM images.”<br/>
<strong><br/>
Patients on the Line</strong></p>
<p>TIME can be crucial in the treatment of any trauma patient who has undergone an emergency imaging exam, or who has prior exams available at
another location that could be relevant to providing emergency care.<br />
This technology can be vital to patient care in several trauma<br />
scenarios, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>1) TIME can be used to electronically share images from one emergency department to another, as in the case of a trauma patient
being transferred for surgery after stabilization.</li>
<li>2) In the instance when a second opinion is needed but a transfer is not possible, imaging exams can be shared and viewed by
physicians at other institutions, who can then consult remotely.</li>
<li>3) For trauma patients who are transferred to a trauma center with an imaging study saved on a CD, TIME can quickly access the
contents of the CD, regardless of format or size. In this scenario, the<br />
contents of the CD can be instantly accessed and shared with other care<br />
providers, and imported to PACS if desired.</li>
</ul>
<p>“TIME gives surgical teams more time to prepare to treat a patient because it drastically reduces the gap between receiving a trauma
transfer and reviewing their imaging history,” says Tabatabaie. “In most<br />
instances, a trauma center has to wait to receive a CD with medical<br />
images before it can begin the sometimes lengthy process of accessing<br />
the data and disseminating it to relevant care providers.”</p>
By receiving electronic imaging studies prior to the patient’s<br />
arrival, the trauma team can instantly review the images and ensure they<br />
are staffed with the right specialists, supplies, and resources for the<br />
emergency procedure. Since the TIME service transmits full-fidelity,<br />
diagnostic quality images that can be easily downloaded to a diagnostic<br />
workstation or imported to the PACS or EMR, the trauma center is also<br />
less likely to order duplicate exams, which saves further time and<br />
avoids unnecessary patient radiation exposure. <br/>
<br/>
<strong><em>– Bob Stott is the consulting editor for rt image. Direct<br />
questions and comments to <a href="mailto:editorial@rt-image.com">editorial@rt-image.com.</a></em></strong> lifeIMAGE Medical Image Sharing Platform Selected by Yale-New Haven Hospitaltag:community.radrounds.com,2010-04-09:1791588:Topic:642762010-04-09T17:47:14.780ZJackie Walshhttps://community.radrounds.com/profile/JackieWalsh
We announced today that Yale-New Haven Hospital has selected lifeIMAGE. Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven will use our lila<br />
InBox to manage and share the contents of incoming patient CDs, and the hospital's ED (Level I) will implement our Trauma Image Management & Exchange (TIME) service. <br/><a href="http://www.lifeimage.com/about/mediaevents/yales-selects-lifeimage-image-sharing-platform/"><br/>More info here.</a> <br/>
We announced today that Yale-New Haven Hospital has selected lifeIMAGE. Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven will use our lila<br />
InBox to manage and share the contents of incoming patient CDs, and the hospital's ED (Level I) will implement our Trauma Image Management & Exchange (TIME) service. <br/><a href="http://www.lifeimage.com/about/mediaevents/yales-selects-lifeimage-image-sharing-platform/"><br/>More info here.</a> <br/> We just announced TIME: Trauma Image Management & Exchangetag:community.radrounds.com,2010-02-26:1791588:Topic:625882010-02-26T18:30:29.956ZJackie Walshhttps://community.radrounds.com/profile/JackieWalsh
Trauma Image Management & Exchange is available - <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ybcd2cq">read more.</a><br/><br/>
Trauma Image Management & Exchange is available - <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ybcd2cq">read more.</a><br/><br/> Image Sharing - The Future of Radiologytag:community.radrounds.com,2010-01-12:1791588:Topic:605282010-01-12T18:43:10.516ZJackie Walshhttps://community.radrounds.com/profile/JackieWalsh
Web event featuring Dr. Keith Dreyer, Vice Chairman of Radiology at MGH and Hamid Tabatabaie, President & CEO of lifeIMAGE.<br />
<br />
Jan 26, 2pm ET<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lifeimage.com/image-sharing-webinar" target="_blank">Click here to register</a>
Web event featuring Dr. Keith Dreyer, Vice Chairman of Radiology at MGH and Hamid Tabatabaie, President & CEO of lifeIMAGE.<br />
<br />
Jan 26, 2pm ET<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lifeimage.com/image-sharing-webinar" target="_blank">Click here to register</a> Schedule a meeting with us at RSNAtag:community.radrounds.com,2009-11-18:1791588:Topic:547692009-11-18T21:18:51.404ZJackie Walshhttps://community.radrounds.com/profile/JackieWalsh
Meet with lifeIMAGE at RSNA to learn more about lila and our approach to cloud e-sharing. Schedule a convenient day/time here: <a href="http://www.lifeimage.com/rsna09">www.lifeimage.com/rsna09</a>.
Meet with lifeIMAGE at RSNA to learn more about lila and our approach to cloud e-sharing. Schedule a convenient day/time here: <a href="http://www.lifeimage.com/rsna09">www.lifeimage.com/rsna09</a>. Boston event - Healthcare and the Cloudtag:community.radrounds.com,2009-09-25:1791588:Topic:526522009-09-25T12:06:57.906ZJackie Walshhttps://community.radrounds.com/profile/JackieWalsh
If you are in the Boston area consider attending this free event. Hamid Tabatabaie (lifeIMAGE founder, president and CEO) will be a panelist.<br />
<a href="http://healthcarecloud.eventbrite.com/" target="_blank"><br />
<a href="http://healthcarecloud.eventbrite.com/">http://healthcarecloud.eventbrite.com/</a></a>
If you are in the Boston area consider attending this free event. Hamid Tabatabaie (lifeIMAGE founder, president and CEO) will be a panelist.<br />
<a href="http://healthcarecloud.eventbrite.com/" target="_blank"><br />
<a href="http://healthcarecloud.eventbrite.com/">http://healthcarecloud.eventbrite.com/</a></a> Dr. Dalai's Overview of lifeIMAGEtag:community.radrounds.com,2009-08-31:1791588:Topic:518912009-08-31T19:10:15.660ZJackie Walshhttps://community.radrounds.com/profile/JackieWalsh
The Dalai Lama of PACS recently wrote an article on lifeIMAGE - read it here: <a href="http://doctordalai.blogspot.com/2009/08/lifeimage.html">http://doctordalai.blogspot.com/2009/08/lifeimage.html</a>
The Dalai Lama of PACS recently wrote an article on lifeIMAGE - read it here: <a href="http://doctordalai.blogspot.com/2009/08/lifeimage.html">http://doctordalai.blogspot.com/2009/08/lifeimage.html</a>