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You Can Help Save Lives

Learn about the organ procurement and transplant process to ensure patients are covered. National Donate Life Month, in April, is about encouraging people to donate organs and tissues to save the lives of those in need. An estimated 113,000 men, women, and children in the United States are waiting for organ transplants right now, according […]

The post You Can Help Save Lives appeared first on AAPC Knowledge Center.

AAPC Knowledge Center

Why medical imaging software saves lives

Having effective medical imaging scans and software is a crucial part of modern medicine. Doctors rely on a whole host of complex scans in diagnosis and treatment of patients and therefore it is imperative that they can rely on the software behind the scanner technologies to provide an accurate picture of the insides of the body. Imaging software that is poor in quality will mean accurate and clear pictures will not be obtained for correct diagnosis. The software really does therefore save lives.

Most body scans rely on software to work correctly. X-rays do not traditionally require software however as they work by radiation passing through the body and projecting an image onto some special film. Other types of body scan however such as an MRI relies heavily on effective imaging software. This system works by creating a strong magnetic field around the body, and sending radio waves through it to the specific part of the body being examined. When this happens an energy is emitted from the nuclei of the atoms in that area that when interpreted by image software can be used by doctors to see if there are any abnormalities or problems. The scanner machine itself is the first part of the equation, but the software provides the language in which the data and images can be translated into for interpretation.

Without the accompanying software, a CT scan would also be obsolete. This uses radiation the same as a traditional X-ray machine but many images are taken from different angles throughout the body. When all these images are processed by software, it is possible for a radiologist to interpret the data. As with an MRI scan, the software is a vital step in using CT scans effectively and beneficially for patients.

Specialist medical software has developed quickly over the last few years, and today there are more advancements than ever helping physicians and scientists treat patients successfully. A picture archiving and communication system for example enables multiple images and scans such as MRI scans, CT scans and even X-rays to be stored together on a computer and brought to the screen at the touch of a button. By ridding themselves of film altogether, doctors can see the images even more clearly making diagnosis that much more precise. Furthermore, pacs software can compare images quickly and gives easy access to as many people as necessary – something vital when usually there is a team of specialists working together on improving the health of one patient.

Another exciting development in this field is the development of fusion software. This enables various medical images to be laid on top of one another and viewed together. Overlaying images in this way allows more information to be gleaned from the scans than otherwise would be if being viewed and analyzed separately. Furthermore, it is not just more than one image from the same type of scan that can be viewed this way, but multiple scans and images from across multiple methods of scanning.

Never before has modern medicine received so much assistance in the form of computer software. There is no doubt that without the various types of software out there, doctors would have a much harder time making any accurate diagnosis. The scans are also absolutely essential in the aftermath of a serious accident or trauma too as many health problems such as internal bleeding don’t immediately present themselves with external symptoms. With scans, many of these problems would go undiagnosed which could easily result in emergency situations and even death. medical imaging software really does save lives especially when used in addition with image fusion software and pacs medical imaging which allows scans and images to be easily compared. This helps provide even more of a clear picture of the inside of the body for analysis and diagnosis.

Kathryn Dawson writes articles for Mirada Medical Limited, a developer of internationally recognised image fusion software and analysis applications which are used across nuclear medicine, diagnostic radiology, radiation and medical oncology and neurology. Their image fusion software and the integrated pacs medical imaging solutions have been used worldwide and deliver ground breaking image management across all hospital departments.

Electronic Medical Records May Save Lives

Electronic medical records may dramatically improve the diagnosis, management and care of patients, according to a Kaiser Permanente study from the September 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. This study reports that electronic medical records improve the quality of health care overall and may result in quicker diagnosis and response time to critical needs.

Electronic medical records can also enable the study of data from an entire population in ways not previously possible: allowing conditions to be analyzed to determine what treatments work and what do not, finding patterns of care that are more effective, and defining the cost-effectiveness of various techniques and approaches for optimal care. By being able to track larger amounts of data than ever before, medical teams can track vital medical data without the need for costly and cumbersome voluntary studies. Lives might be saved by following and analyzing diagnosis and treatment across a large group of patients and new solutions could be discovered through new found research data. These are the positive influences that electronic medical records may supply on the research side, but every day solutions are also provided.

The safety alerts, built into many electronic medical record systems, may draw attention to life-threatening situations. Imagine a patient seen by two separate doctors. These doctors each prescribe separate medication that could harmfully interact, medication that is somehow not noted or brought to the second doctor’s attention. This could have a potentially fatal consequence. With a electronic medical record systems, doctors are alerted instantly to any potentially dangerous medical interactions or conditions of a patient. According to a “Safety in Prescribing” study in Archives of Internal Medicine, safety alerts that appear in electronic medical records reduce potentially dangerous interactions of co-prescriptions.

“This study shows that safety alerts in electronic medical records are a powerful tool to help clinicians make decisions about what drugs they should prescribe for their patients,” says Adrianne Feldstein, MD, MS, lead author of the study and an investigator at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research. “We compared the effects of two interventions in outpatient clinical settings – safety alerts in electronic medical records versus safety alerts plus clinician education courses. We found that adding clinician education to electronic medical records safety alerts did not reduce the rates of co-prescribing medications that interact any more than electronic medical records safety alerts alone. The reason is unclear, but it may be that the ‘just in time’ information provided by safety alerts is more useful to clinicians than education courses.”

Electronic medical records may help save lives, especially when they are properly implemented and understood. For more information about a reliable electronic medical record system, contact e-MDs, a leader in electronic medical record software provision. e-MDs offers a host of affordable solutions for physicians and facilities looking to modernize or enhance their services with the latest EMR technology. e-MDs is committed to providing operational solutions and delivering the clinical tools needed to succeed in today’s medical field.

Brigette Botkin. Electronic Medical Records– e-MDs powerful software can help manage your electronic medical records