Your medical imaging cloud
A picture is worth a thousand words yet many hospitals and health systems still rely on outdated, siloed, and on-premise technology for storing and transferring medical imaging. This outdated technology leads to most EHRs missing a patient’s diagnostic imaging and only displaying text-based radiology reports. Imagine Facebook or Instagram with just words and no images; it’s a far less comprehensive picture of the individual. Typically, the only way to move medical imaging has been via CD and DVD, which then gets mailed around or must be physically picked up (often by a sick or injured patient), creating significant delays and inefficiency in the delivery of care. A survey by Ambra Health of 1100 healthcare consumers found that when it comes to moving diagnostic data like x-ray, CT, and MRI from one provider to another, 57% still use CDs, and it takes 44% of patients a day or more to move these medical images. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new sense of urgency. Ambra enabled facilities to move to the cloud to establish teleradiology for field hospitals, enable cloud viewing for specialists, provide image exams directly to patients, ensure remote surgical second opinions, and even anonymize COVID imaging exams for research studies. This “a ha” moment is changing healthcare and driving explosive Ambra growth. In 2020, Ambra added an average of three new customers a week and saw global expansion in the UK, China, Brazil, and other parts of Asia.
The Ambra Health platform provides facilities with a suite of tools designed to eliminate CDs, streamline image management, and speed up time-to-care delivery. One of Ambra’s core capabilities is image-enabling leading EHR systems. Imaging is often the missing piece of the puzzle in the patient record causing physicians to login into separate systems and toggle between browsers. Consolidating imaging within the EHR eliminates the need to login to separate systems, and physicians are able to securely search for prior imaging, providing the best health outcome. The Ambra Suite of Medical Imaging Solutions makes medical imaging available in real-time and accessible from anywhere, by anyone. The Ambra Suite transforms medical image information into a dynamic data warehouse, providing universal access to clinically rich, diagnostic data. Using Ambra Suite, physicians can safely and easily power all their image exchange needs including CD upload, patient portals, physician portals, second opinion workflows, trauma transfer, telestroke and clinical trials. Once medical data is managed in the cloud, the possibilities are endless. For example, Medtronic, the largest medical device company in the world, uses Ambra as a core cloud platform to enable robotic surgery that is guided by imaging. And Roche/Genentech, the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, uses Ambra to organize and intake data for clinical trials and AI research. Imaging, as a digital asset, can be examined by machine learning algorithms to discover new insights, particularly in the areas of oncology and neurodegenerative diseases.
The exchange of patient data has never been more important. As AI and machine learning innovations become a reality, facilities must ensure that their imaging data is easily accessible and interoperable for continued progress. Ambra works with leading EMR/EHR and RIS vendors to streamline imaging workflows and integrate imaging data with the rest of the patient record producing a holistic image. Ambra is one of the top ten most utilized applications in the Epic App Orchard. Here’s how Ambra technology enhances the EHR: Improved interoperability: Ambra’s cloud technology allows for rapid and efficient exchange among care providers across networks, scalable vendor neutral archiving capabilities, and immediate access to data within EHR systems. Another key benefit is that it provides enterprise-wide viewing of a study simultaneously. Simplified viewing from anywhere, anytime: Ambra adds advanced image viewing to the EHR while at the same time reducing complexity. By integrating imaging with an EHR like EPIC, Ambra eliminates the need to login into two systems and toggle between them. Instead, both patient records and imaging are all available directly from within the patient jacket. Secure, consolidated access: Using cloud storage as a Vendor Neutral Archive (VNA) provides instant access to secondary versions of medical images and priors if primary data becomes unavailable and can be used for business continuity. Reduction in redundant radiology exams: Image enabling the EMR through Ambra allows physicians easy access to patient imaging – reducing the number of duplicate test orders, reducing both costs and unnecessary radiation exposure.
At UC San Diego Health, the large volume of imaging on CDs caused staff to struggle to keep up with the demands of CD burning, ingestion, and matching of patient data leading to backlogs missed revenue opportunities, and delays in clinical care. Today, with Ambra Health, staff can upload studies within minutes, and the study becomes available for network-wide viewing immediately. Using the Ambra AutoFilm Library feature, imaging and associated data are automatically linked with new orders eliminating the manual and highly error-prone process of traditional information intake. The workflow allows UC San Diego Health to match data from Epic to the CD and overrides the information on the disk. “More than any other vendor I have worked with, the Ambra team was very flexible and willing to deploy optimizations thoughtfully and carefully throughout the entire process,” says Matthew Hyatt Clinical Imaging IT Supervisor UC San Diego Health. The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is implementing the Ambra Health solution for their patients, providers, and regional partners. " Patients will also be able to upload their imaging directly to HSS through the MyHSS website,” says Inderpal Kohli, Assistant Vice President of Clinical Applications at HSS. Additionally, Ambra’s integration with Epic MyChart makes secure, electronic sharing of imaging with patients easier than ever at HSS. Whether enabling patients to upload their imaging themselves, or eliminating the need to distribute imaging to them via CDs, Ambra provides a better experience for providers and patients alike.
The pandemic has ushered in a sense of urgency for facilities to break down traditional barriers and allow seamless access to medical imaging data for trauma transfers, everyday telehealth appointments, second opinions, and more. A patient should never face a care delay due to the delayed arrival of medical imaging.
