
To support faster diagnoses, timely treatments and better patient outcomes Alameda Health System (AHS) is launching a new enterprise imaging (EI) program which provides immediate access to medical images.
“This transformative initiative represents a significant leap forward in enhancing patient care by streamlining workflows and elevating the experience for both patients and providers,” said Andrea Wu, MD, associate chief medical officer for acute care services and the project’s executive sponsor.
The phased rollout begins January 2025 in ophthalmology and will expand to include dental, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), radiology and cardiology over the next three years. The goal is to create an enterprise imaging ecosystem delivering easy access to any medical image to support a more comprehensive electronic health record (EHR).
In current state AHS imaging systems are limited in their ability to share images with patients, referring providers outside of the AHS network and other health systems. In addition, care teams cannot view images on mobile devices.
The new EI system centralizes image storage and viewing across all departments, addressing longstanding challenges posed by our multiple legacy picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) that has limited or no integration with Epic.
“As ophthalmologists, the ability to integrate our different imaging modalities into one system is invaluable,” said Jonathan Hernandez, MD, chief of ophthalmology. “The new PACS allows us to save time in clinic by easily referencing patient data, which directly translates to more time spent caring for patients. Additionally, its user-friendly features enable us to better assess the many diseases of the eye.”
Dr. Hernandez participated on a cross-functional team to evaluate, provide feedback and select an imaging solution to meet AHS’ needs. The project team met with each department head and after the year-long process, Fujifilm PACS was chosen as the electronic imaging vendor in August 2023. In addition, Continuum PACS was selected to support and streamline ophthalmic image and data management.
By consolidating all imaging data such as ophthalmic scans, dental radiographs and point-of-care ultrasound images into the EHR, providers gain a comprehensive view of a patient’s medical history. As a result, providers and care teams can quickly access high-quality images and easily compare them with previous records, which is crucial for patient-follow up and detecting changes in health status.
In addition to empowering providers with a more holistic view of a patient’s medical history, the EI implementation bolsters AHS’ commitment to regulatory compliance by ensuring the secure storage, retrieval and sharing of medical images.
With this investment in state-of-the-art imaging technology, AHS reaffirms its dedication to delivering the highest-quality patient- and family-centered care.
“I am thrilled to have an enterprise imaging platform here at AHS so that we can easily access patient information from anywhere in our system,” said Albert Roh, MD, chair of radiology. “The enhanced integration supports more informed decision-making, improves collaboration across care teams, and ultimately leads to better, more personalized care for patients.”
For more information on AHS’ enterprise imaging implementation, please contact program lead, Quinn Cordae, director of ancillary applications at qcordae@alamedahealthsystem.org