Software as a Service Cardiovascular PACS Based on Web 2.0 Technologies

描述（由申请人提供）：在美国，近三分之二的医学成像程序是在医生办公室进行的，但这些小型医疗保健提供者中很少有能力负担与大型医院交换这些图像所需的图片存档和通信系统 (PACS)。如果无法在线访问之前的影像检查，许多程序都会重复，导致医疗费用过高。政府问责办公室 (GAO) 估计，这些费用在 2000 年至 2006 年间翻了一番，目前，影像检查占办公室心脏病专家医疗保险支付总额的三分之一以上。为了促进医疗图像的跨提供商共享，我们建议心脏成像技术公司、约翰·霍普金斯医疗系统和杜克大学之间建立战略合作伙伴关系，开发一种医疗图像管理系统，供医生办公室使用，该系统与国家健康信息网络 (NHIN) 接口，这是国家健康信息技术协调员办公室 (ONC) 的一项联邦倡议。我们提出的系统将允许多个小型医疗保健提供者通过互联网将图像传输到单个服务提供者，然后使用 NHIN 基础设施与其他医疗保健提供者共享这些图像。所提出的系统预计将极大地促进医疗图像的跨提供商交换，从而减少重复测试、降低医疗成本并提高全国范围内的患者护理质量。 公共健康相关性：我们建议心脏成像技术公司、约翰·霍普金斯医院和杜克大学建立战略合作伙伴关系，开发供医生办公室使用的医学图像管理系统。在美国，近三分之二的医学成像程序是在医生办公室进行的，但这些小型医疗保健提供者中很少有能力负担与其他医疗保健提供者交换图像所需的图像管理系统。我们建议开发一种廉价的互联网服务，允许基于国家卫生信息网络的基础设施上传和共享图像。所提出的系统预计将极大地促进医疗图像的跨提供商交换，从而减少全国范围内的重复测试和相关医疗保健成本。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Nearly two-thirds of all medical imaging procedures in the United States are performed in physician offices, yet few of these small healthcare providers can afford picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) needed to exchange these images with large hospitals. Without online access to previous imaging tests many procedures are repeated, leading to excessive healthcare costs. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has estimated that these costs doubled between 2000 and 2006, and that imaging currently accounts for over one third of total Medicare payments to office-based cardiologists. To facilitate cross-provider sharing of medical images we propose a strategic partnership between Heart Imaging Technologies, the Johns Hopkins Health System, and Duke University to develop a medical image management system for use by physician offices that interfaces to the National Health Information Network (NHIN), a Federal initiative of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The system we propose will allow multiple small healthcare providers to transmit images over the Internet to a single service provider, and then share these images with other healthcare providers using the NHIN infrastructure. The proposed system is expected to greatly facilitate cross-provider exchange of medical images, thereby reducing repeat testing, reducing healthcare costs, and improving the quality of patient care on a national scale. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: We propose a strategic partnership between Heart Imaging Technologies, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Duke University to develop a medical image management system for use by physician offices. Nearly two-thirds of all medical imaging procedures in the United States are performed in physician offices, yet few of these small healthcare providers can afford the image management systems necessary to exchange images with other healthcare providers. We propose to develop an inexpensive Internet service that allows image uploading and sharing based on the infrastructure of the National Health Information Network. The proposed system is expected to greatly facilitate cross- provider exchange of medical images, thereby reducing repeat testing and associated healthcare costs nationwide.