IMV Report Finds Cardiology Departments Looking to Integrate CPACS, CVIS Systems

Des Plaines, IL (PRWEB) July 10, 2014

A newly released study by IMV Medical Information Division shows that cardiology departments in U.S. hospitals are moving beyond separate cardiovascular image management systems (CPACS) and information systems (CVIS) with an eye to the improved efficiency provided by integration with other capabilities such as radiology PACS, other departmental IT systems, and the hospitals EMR system.

The dual objectives of integrating CPACS and CVIS information into one cohesive system while integrating with the hospitals EMR system are reflected in the respondents ratings of their departmental priorities. Based on average ratings, the top two priorities rated are manage the integration of cardiovascular IT (CV-IT) systems with EMR and align CV-IT systems with workflow practices.

U.S. hospitals have made progress in integrating cardiology images with nonimage data over the past four years, observed Lorna Young, senior director of market research at IMV. Cardiologists need patient images to be integrated with related nonimage patient information and structured reporting to improve diagnostic efficiency.

IMVs study shows that U.S hospitals are at various degrees of implementation along this path. More than three-quarters of the surveyed hospitals, 77%, indicated they have both CPACS and CVIS. An additional 17% have one system or the other, while only 6% of the hospitals have no formal implementation of either a CPACS or CVIS. Of the sites that have both systems, nearly half indicated that their CPACS and CVIS are fully integrated, while the rest have not yet fully integrated these two systems.

While the evolution in the use of CV-IT systems has progressed, it is clear that the respondents do not feel that their journey on the cardiology information continuum is complete. When asked where they felt their current implementation of CPACS/CVIS is relative to their ideal, only 33% of the respondents reported they were more than three-quarters of the way to their ideal system. Continued investment in CV-IT systems is proceeding, with two-thirds of the sites planning to upgrade or implement a new or replacement CPACS and/or CVIS over the next three years.

Despite their acknowledgement that the ideal architecture includes integration with the EMR or electronic health record (EHR) system, respondents feel their ideal CV-IT solution should not necessarily be integrated by their EMR/EHR vendor because of cardiologys priority of aligning its CV-IT system with its workflow practices. In fact, a higher proportion of all the respondents are more likely to favor their current CPACS or CVIS vendor, or even their radiology PACS vendor, to be the integrator for their ideal CV-IT solution than the EMR/EHR vendor. Having an enterprise-wide archive solution that is developed for cardiology, radiology, and other hospital departments also is part of the vision.

IMVs report identifies trends in the installed base market share of CPACS, CVIS, radiology PACS, and EMR/EHR vendors; respondent satisfaction with their CPACS/CVIS; and vendors being considered for future implementations of their cardiovascular information technology over the next few years. Vendors covered in this report include Agfa, Allscripts, Carestream, Cerner, CPSI, DR Systems, Epic, GE, Fujifilm, Lumedx, McKesson, Meditech, Merge, Philips, and Siemens.

In other report findings, cardiac catheterization and echocardiography images and structured reporting form the backbone of the ideal integrated CPACS and CVIS, with either or both modalities specified by all the respondents. About half of the current CPACS users also mentioned that they currently have access to intravascular ultrasound, interventional radiology/angiography, and vascular ultrasound images from their CPACS.

Of the survey respondents who have both radiology PACS and CPACS, the top two components that are integrated/interfaced are the data archive infrastructure and a common patient-centric database.

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IMV Report Finds Cardiology Departments Looking to Integrate CPACS, CVIS Systems