Intelerad

Frederick Health Image-Enables Patient Portal

Frederick Health has been a customer of Intelerad since 2012 and recently expanded its use case to provide patients with access to their diagnostic images and reports through a link on FMH.org.
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Summary

This new feature allows patients to be able to view and forward their exams to physicians and care providers of their choosing and download images. Expanding these services to image-enable the FH patient portal represents one of the first initiatives in the U.S. that provides patients with ready access to their images, coupled with the ability to securely forward them to other caregivers with ease.

Given the tremendous value that imaging plays in both diagnosing and treating many diseases, Frederick Health recognized it was imperative that access to images be included on the FH Website.

Brian Petrie, PACS Administrator, Frederick Health

Image-Enabling the Patient Portal

Frederick Health provided patients with their imaging on CDs – a time-consuming and expensive process as over 1,500 CDs were burned per month. Patients had to drive to a facility to pick-up images or wait for the CD to arrive in the mail. Oftentimes, referring physicians also struggled with opening CDs in their office due to the numerous plugins, passwords, and settings required.

Since Access My Images went live on the FH site, there have been over 900 logins in the first three months of the program. Once a patient completes their imaging, they are given a login to receive images within 2 hours of the procedure. This allows patients to be able to view and forward their exams to physicians and care providers of their choosing and download images on a PC, USB, or burn to a CD. The report arrives in the patient portal about 36 hours later, and patients can watch an educational video on the patient portal to arm them with best practices. Patients, including the large baby boomer population in the region, have found the Access My Images feature very easy to use.

Powering Image Exchange Across the Network

InteleShare had been powering image exchange across the Frederick Health network since 2012, allowing authorized users immediate access to view, compare, collaborate, and transfer images to any hospital or imaging center in the community. Today, over 16 Gateways are in use to seamlessly route medical images across the network.

We’ve seen that it provides peace of mind, especially if a patient needs imaging while traveling/away from doctor.

Brian Petrie, PACS Administrator, Frederick Health

Streamlining Image Management

Frederick Health has used InteleShare to image-enable several other systems including NextGen EMR. This allows the unification of patient health records and management of imaging directly from within the patient jacket. In addition, orders involving imaging can be placed, processed, viewed, and completed from within the EMR or EHR. 

Many smaller practices on the network have even replaced traditional on-site hardware PACS with InteleShare. This solution consolidates multiple imaging systems with one flexible, customizable, and low maintenance platform. Easy-to-use Modality Worklist and flexible routing rules drive better productivity for staff and physicians alike. 

Overview

  • Located in Frederick, Maryland.
  • Cares for a population of over 95,000.
  • 3 major hospital centers and various specialty & private practice groups.

Challenges

  • Medical imaging shared with patients on CDs.
  • Producing over 1,500 CDs per month.
  • Patients required to pick-up CDs or wait for CD to be mailed.

Solution

  • Patients are given access to cloud imaging portal within two hours of exam.
  • Patients can share imaging with outside physicians.
  • Provides peace of mind to patients who travel often.

 

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