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EHR conversion makes sense for clinical, financial reasons
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LAS VEGAS — Imaging has changed the dynamics of ophthalmology practice, a speaker said here.
“Ten years ago we were doing angiography every 3 months and then maybe a [patient] visit every 6 months or 3 months,” Rishi P. Singh, MD, said at the Optical Coherence Tomography and Imaging Panel Experts Review. But with the proliferation of anti-VEGF therapy, monthly visits for optical coherence tomography imaging have become the norm.
Rishi P. Singh
“Having an imaging [picture archiving and communication] system in your practice is key to following patients,” he said.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology has found a critical barrier to the adoption of electronic health records systems is the inability to integrate existing ophthalmic imaging equipment, according to Singh. Few EHR systems allow for imaging archiving, he said, but the reasons to make the conversion to EHRs are clear.
Clinically, conversion would increase quality of care by providing exam results anywhere, anytime and forever, Singh said. Financially, adopting an EHR system would reduce operating costs, eliminate lost charges, and decrease media and file storage costs, he said.
“A good image management system provides quick, easy access, no matter where you are in the world,” Singh said.
“You want to have a Web-based application so you can work independently of the ‘box’ devices. So if your OCT is ‘off’ and your computers are turned ‘off’ at your work, you shouldn’t have to be without your images at any given point in time,” he said.
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Disclosure: Singh is a consultant for or receives research support from Alcon, Regeneron, Bausch + Lomb, Genentech and Zeiss.