Cardiac IT consolidation slows down

Consolidation of various cardiology IT solutions is part of quality improvement initiatives of large medical centres and health systems. However, workflow and reporting challenges have hindered such initiatives, according to a new report from KLAS.

KLAS researchers assessed the capabilities of cardiovascular technology from leading vendors including Merge, Change, Epic, INFINITT and Philips. It was found that invasive treatment, particularly cardiac catheterisation, is one area where much work is needed to enhance tech integration.
 
Thanks to the complexity of cath procedures, "adoption of structured reporting is low for cath compared to other cardiology areas," according to the report. "Customisation and training are two factors that can impact adoption of cath structured reporting."

Key findings of the KLAS study include:

- Customers of Change Healthcare and Merge report doing best with structured reporting, but also seek more streamlined workflow improvements. For Merge customers, a major concern relates to the manual entry necessitated for cath templates. A small sample of INFINITT are doing cath structured reporting and enjoy efficient physician workflows.  

- Change's clients like its physician training and willingness to customise the technology. Merge and INFINITT customers report having access to responsive personnel who can help them adjust the structured reporting. Philips customers also receive responsive support but must jump through hoops to access the right expertise.

- Many vendors struggle to provide frontline support with the knowledge level needed to help customers succeed with structured reporting, KLAS researchers noted. For instance, Epic customers feel Epic is a partner but acknowledge that Epic has struggled to bring strong cardiology expertise to structured reporting. Both Fujifilm and LUMEDX customers report problems getting to the people with expertise to make changes.

According to KLAS researchers, integration between the haemodynamics and cardiology solutions is essential to getting the correct data into structured reporting and ensuring that clinician workflow is as smooth as possible.

The researchers also said that strong integration is a major selling point for Merge’s haemodynamics customers, who also tout the company's development of more customisable and automated reports.

The KLAS report notes that GE Healthcare and Philips "both offer stable, long-standing haemodynamics solutions; however, lack of development has been a recurring concern for customers looking for improved flexibility."

Source: Healthcare IT News
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