eHealth Global Signs Agreement with Axolotl to Deliver Medical Image Sharing Technology for Health Information Exchanges
Image Sharing Solution Simplifies Workflow for Radiology Centers and Physicians Connected to Rochester RHIO; Now Available to All Axolotl Elysium® Exchange Customers
Rochester, NY October 26, 2009 – eHealth Global Technologies, Inc. (eHGT), a leading medical records and imaging services provider, announced the formalization of an agreement with Axolotl Corp., the nationwide leader in health information exchange (HIE) solutions and services, to provide image sharing technology based on eHealthConnect® Diagnostic Image Exchange, to Axolotl customers. In conjunction with this agreement, Axolotl has announced the immediate availability of Elysium Image Exchange, a state-of-the-art technology integrated with Axolotl’s Elysium Exchange suite of products. Powered by eHGT, this new offering enables the electronic sharing of diagnostic quality medical images between health care providers participating in an HIE.
This partnership enables Axolotl to market a solution that leverages the eHGT technology to retrieve and securely deliver diagnostic quality medical images in a cost-effective and easy to implement service. With a single click, authorized users of the HIE can quickly access images from multiple disparate picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) from any radiology and cardiology imaging provider that participates in an HIE. Traditional medical image sharing approaches require a CD or a print to be sent to physicians, as electronic image access was not possible due to large bandwidth and processing requirements.
This service is available today, and has already been implemented at the Rochester RHIO, where it allows authorized users to see patient information, including radiology images, at any time from any computer with a secure Internet connection. Physicians using either Axolotl’s Elysium EMR Lite, a CCHIT certified EMR, or Axolotl’s Virtual Health Record, a community wide EHR, are able to view and access diagnostic quality medical images — including X-rays, MRI, CT scans and Ultrasound—from numerous radiology centers across the 9-county Rochester, New York region served by the RHIO, which also includes 20 hospitals and health care organizations providing information on more than 1.2 million patients.
Dr. Daniel Jacobson, President of Rochester Radiology and Rochester Diagnostic Imaging, noted that being able to automate access to patient images across institutions has improved patient care. “This new capability offers a tremendous advantage over traditional methods to obtain comparison images. In seconds, we can view other studies our patients have had, use that information, and interpret today's study proficiently and efficiently.”
Ted Kremer, Executive Director of Rochester RHIO, added that making radiology images more accessible benefits all members of a patient’s medical team. “Primary care physicians, specialists and radiologists can view images on-screen from any participating radiology provider for a more complete picture of their patients’ health. The anytime, anywhere access can help in emergency situations, second opinions and routine visits.”
“Until now, remotely accessing images on disparate PACS required a multitude of dedicated viewers on the physician’s PC, which often caused compatibility issues as well as training problems. Elysium Image Exchange enables a single, robust unified viewer to access studies on any PACS connected to the HIE,” said Glenn Keet, President of Axolotl. “We are thrilled to have best of class applications such as Image Exchange integrated into our open web services platform.”
Gary Larson, General Manager of eHealth Global HIE Services, echoed these comments, stating “Our partnership with Axolotl will now enable the top Health Information Exchanges in the country that utilize Axolotl’s Elysium platform, to gain the patient care and ‘Meaningful Use’ benefits of having immediate access to prior imaging exams. We are excited to enhance Axolotl’s platform and provide this leading-edge functionality for communities across the nation.”
About eHealth Global Technologies, Inc. (eHGT)
eHGT is a leading medical record retrieval and diagnostic image exchange service provider, serving more than 25 of the nation’s top 100 hospitals and leading health information exchanges (HIEs). The company’s services include eHealth AccessTM Record Retrieval Service and eHealth Connect® Diagnostic Image Exchange. Both help users to improve patient care while increasing productivity and reducing costs. Each service utilizes innovative health information technology to access medical records and diagnostic images in any format, and then securely delivers them to providers and clinicians in a digital format to improve continuity of care. Please visit www.eHGT.com for more information.
About Axolotl Corp
Founded in 1995, Axolotl Corp. is North America’s leading provider of browser-based products and services for secure health information exchange and management. Its award-winning Elysium® Exchange suite of solutions enables health care providers to instantly share information, reduce costs, and improve quality and efficiency. Elysium helps thousands of health care entities—including hospitals, health systems, regional health information organizations (RHIOs/HIEs), clinics, laboratories, radiology centers and physician practices—to securely exchange clinical information for more than 25 million patients. Elysium’s community-wide Master Patient Index, EdgeServer(s), Interoperability Hub (I-Hub), Community Virtual Health Record (VHR), and certified ambulatory EMR with integrated e-Prescribing are all provided as a software service (SaaS). Axolotl-employed U.S.-based transcriptionists, combined with an integrated NLP engine, provide high-quality medical transcription services for acute and ambulatory care environments connected to Elysium HIEs. Axolotl is based in San Jose and best known for introducing Clinical Messaging®, now at the heart of all health information exchange. For more information about Axolotl, see www.axolotl.com.