By Hamid Tabatabaie, Founder and CEO, lifeIMAGE. Courtesy of HealthImaging.com
Short and to the point piece from Founder and CEO on value proposition for giving patients control of their images. In short, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. With the medical history in conjunction with medical images, better decisions can be made. This of course has huge implications on many fronts for surgical pathology. Namely, as another saying goes, the tissue is the issue. A pathology report to another provider, sub-specialist for second opinion or consultation without access to the images, derived from the slides via whole slide imaging is inferior to the images themselves to confirm a diagnosis or suggest other possibilities in the differential diagnosis that may impact treatment, management and outcomes – increasingly important in health exchanges. Much like the Airlines vs. Healthcare argument previously, interoperability here will be key across integrated healthcare delivery systems and their proprietary networks of data.
Some may value the question of patient accessible images but with patient portals on the rise for other health maintenance records and treatment records, why not, along with ultrasound videos, EKGs in PDF format, lab data and clinical notes, why not whole slide images?
Last but not least, with the rise of value-based insurance plans and accountable care organizations, clinical and financial interests are well aligned in avoiding expensive and unnecessary exams. With online access to images, patients as well as providers can be armed with the tools required to avoid the expense or the undesired co-pay.
About the author: Hamid Tabatabaie is founder & CEO of lifeIMAGE.
