'A Call to Arms' for Electronic Transfer of Medical Images Between Institutions

Despite the technological advances in transferring electronic health information, medical imaging data, to this day, is predominantly exchanged between instiutions via physical media (such as a CD or flash drive) that patients carry to an appointment at another facility.

Emphasizing the impact of this seemingly dated practice on workflow efficiencies within radiology and the broader field of health care, Arun Krishnaraj, MD, MPH and David Larson, MD, MBA, said the continued reliance on patients to transport medical images via physical media (such as a CD or flash drive) can lead to delays in patient care.

In their quest to change this dynamic, Drs. Krishnaraj and Larson recently co-authored a provocative article, “Moving Toward Seamless Interinstitutional Electronic Image Transfer” in the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR). In the article and in a video interview with Diagnostic Imaging, Drs. Krishnaraj and Larson discussed the potential creation of a “linked multi-hub model” that would facilitate electronic transmission of medical images through image exchange companies that would connect different health-care facilities.

“Everyone in the imaging community should really see this as a call to arms to work with our imaging vendor exchange communities to solve this problem for the benefit of patients,” emphasized Dr. Krishnaraj, Chief of the Division of Body Imaging with the Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

For more insights from Drs. Krishnaraj and Larson, watch the video below: