ECG Viewer Integration Transforms Cardiology Medical Records

Community Medical Centers (CMC; Fresno, CA, USA), a leading not-for-profit health system comprised of three hospitals and four outpatient centers in central California, has integrated an electrocardiogram (ECG) management system and viewer into their electronic health record (EHR), leading to significant improvements in clinician efficiency and patient care management.

Implemented first during March 2013 at Community Regional and Clovis Community, and then at the Fresno Heart & Surgical Center in October 2013, the Agfa HealthCare (Mortsel, Belgium) cardiovascular information system (CVIS) and ECG management solutions have significantly streamlined the clinical workflow of the cardiology department by allowing real-time viewer connectivity to the Agfa HealthCare IMPAX HeartStation and to patient medical records in the EHR viewing portal. These capabilities, combined with the system's inherent worklist, order completion, and billing processes, have enabled CMC to directly address several key Meaningful Use objectives.

“No longer is our cardiology department subject to inefficiencies and potential inaccuracies associated with inputting patient information into the system by hand and searching for past patient ECG results,” said Hagop Afarian, MD, chief medical information officer of CMC. “Now, a cardiologist or clinician at any of our hospitals or outpatient centers is able to seamlessly view a patient's IMPAX ECG images, alongside their medical history, thus enabling more immediate access to information.”

“Cardiologists need efficient access to a patient's past and current medical data as well as cardiovascular diagnostic exams in order to provide timely diagnoses for treatment regimens,” said Ryan Berg, MD, a cardiologist at CMC. “This system's ability to integrate patient medical records with corresponding ECGs and cardiovascular reports is a paradigm shift for our department and the entire Community Medical Center network, in that it fundamentally streamlines patient care and enables clinicians to focus on medical outcomes.”

The IMPAX platform for cardiology is a comprehensive data management solution for cardiology departments. By implementing Agfa HealthCare's solution with the hospital's EHR, ECG images along with IMPAX cardiovascular exam reports are centralized to the patient EHR record. Worklists are available to enhance workflow by creating a streamlined process to evaluate patients, support efficient billing, and allow any clinician within the health system to access past and current cardiac patient data.

“Community Medical Centers is an excellent example of the benefits a cardiology department and entire hospital system can experience with Agfa HealthCare's IMPAX CV and IMPAX HeartStation platforms,” said Tom Agar, global cardiovascular marketing manager at Agfa HealthCare. “By integrating patient ECGs and Cardiovascular reports within the EHR, all clinicians have access to patient information that could be pertinent in emergency situations or simply streamline the workflow process during a routine checkup.”

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Community Medical Centers
Agfa HealthCare