TORONTO (PRWEB) November 22, 2017 -- Primary care providers and hospital doctors around the world can now access the internationally renowned imaging referral guidelines from the UK’s Royal College of Radiologists, newly integrated into the OrderWise™ clinical decision support (CDS) solution created by Canadian CDS experts MedCurrent.
The OrderWise™ interface is a CDS software tool that guides referring clinicians through differential diagnoses and helps them make the right imaging request for their patient.
OrderWise™ now runs with the eighth edition of iRefer: Making the best use of clinical radiology, the most up-to-date referral guidance from The Royal College of Radiologists, which launched earlier this year.
iRefer8 was developed by more than 300 practising radiologists and features over 280 detailed, condition-specific guidelines designed for easy use by doctors, GPs, radiologists, physiotherapists, dentists and other referring clinicians.
The integrated OrderWise™– iRefer8 CDS package enables referring clinicians and radiology teams to manage diagnostic imaging referrals more effectively; improving hospital workflow and ensuring patients get the right imaging test the first time, with minimised exposure to ionising radiation.
Preliminary outcomes from Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia are promising, generating data to facilitate clinician feedback and iteratively improve OrderWise™. The intended benefits aim to drive more appropriate referrals for patients and streamline clinical and operational workflows. A second site, The Wollongong Hospital, is planned to go-live on OrderWise™ with iRefer8 before the end of the year.
Dr Nicola Strickland, President of The Royal College of Radiologists, said:
“We are delighted to introduce our iRefer8 guidelines to the global market, incorporated within MedCurrent’s fantastic OrderWise™ package. Radiologists and our referring colleagues must ensure patients get quick and accurate scan results, while being protected from unnecessary radiation. Our expert guidelines, delivered in this innovative CDS format, give clinicians around the world the best tools to make sure we deliver the right imaging tests, protect patients and help hospitals and referrers become more efficient.”
John Adziovsky, Chief Executive of MedCurrent, commented:
“We know that iRefer is very highly regarded throughout the world. The opportunity to offer the guidelines in our OrderWise™ system on a continuing basis will benefit many patients and healthcare systems. We will work closely with all those who take up the solution to learn how we can continue improving it for both clinicians and patients.”
To find out more about OrderWise™ and get onboard with the leading solution today, please visit: https://www.medcurrent.com/orderwise/ or speak with the MedCurrent team at RSNA 2017 on stand 4078 South Hall A.
Further information:
RCR: Mark Covey (+44) 20 7406 5906/ (+44) 7554 998193 mark_covey(at)rcr.ac(dot)uk
MedCurrent: Hasan Dharamshi 855 279 3380 ext. 1710 hasan.dharamshi(at)medcurrent(dot)com
Notes for Editors:
1. The iRefer radiology referral guidelines help referring clinicians select the best imaging test and minimise exposure of patients to ionising radiation. iRefer also helps contain or reduce the whole pathway costs to the NHS by shortening the time to diagnosis and directing treatment. First produced in 1989, iRefer will be published by the RCR in its eighth edition in Spring 2017.
2. A clinical decision support system is a health information technology system that is designed to provide doctors and other health professionals with assistance in clinical decision-making tasks. The RCR and MedCurrent have already worked together on a small-scale, proof-of-concept for delivering iRefer in the MedCurrent Clinical Decision Support (CDS) system.
3. There will initially be three to five pilots on sites in England with others expected to be set up in other parts of the UK and overseas. The pilots will test out the CDS system with iRefer embedded within both primary care and secondary care settings and interfacing with a number of commonly-used clinical information systems. The pilots are expected to be completed during the next 12 to 15 months.
4. The Royal College of Radiologists has over 10,000 Fellows and members worldwide, representing the specialties of clinical oncology and clinical radiology. The College sets and maintains the standards for entry to and practice in the specialties in addition to leading and supporting practitioners throughout their careers.
5. MedCurrent’s system is designed to work seamlessly with any hospital electronic patient record and GP requesting systems to minimise any impact on workflow. Their proprietary Authoring Studio will help UK hospitals and GPs to make changes rapidly as new guidelines become available. In addition, their Analytics help monitor individual requesting patterns in order to identify areas for improvement.
6. Consultant radiologists are doctors who interpret X-rays, scans and other types of medical images to detect and diagnose disease and injury. Timely, accurate diagnosis using imaging techniques can speed up access to treatment, prevent or reduce hospital stays and offer major cost savings.
7. https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/08/Statistical-Release-27th-October-PDF-613KB.pdf
Hasan Dharamshi, MedCurrent Corporation, http://www.medcurrent.com, +1 8552793380 Ext: 1710, [email protected]
SOURCE MedCurrent Corporation
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