Structured Reporting Systems Improve Patient Care and Data Management

Published in Dicardiology (DAIC), July 2022

In the cath lab, time is the essence and efficiency and quality of care are the utmost priority. Physicians, particularly cardiologists, need access to varying formats of data and images from an assortment of different sources, instantly. This factor is critical to a better turnaround time and time to diagnosis following a procedure. Finding the right cardiovascular information management system (CVIS) is an ideal solution to this matter that can streamline data across your organization and improve workflows.

For healthcare facilities that have gone the avenue of CVIS implementation, the benefits are multiplying. First, the structured data reporting from a CVIS allows for deeper and more intelligent insights about the patient. Employing an efficient CVIS will also result in better tools for reporting and first-rate imaging, and a less tedious and more productive process for administrative tasks such as billing and inventory. More efficiency (such as automated data flow, reduced manual entry and automated scoring calculations) and precision (including standardized data fields and in-depth dictionaries) in the data documentation process is another benefit many healthcare organizations have seen from implementing a CVIS. Since these systems improve the efficiency of how clinical data is managed, that is likely to translate into faster and more accurate diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of patient progress. According to a coalition of 14 professional societies led by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), structured reporting is critical to providing the highest quality patient care and data accuracy.

Yet, why do so many organizations fail to fully utilize and take advantage of structured reporting systems?

One issue is that it can be challenging to find a unified CVIS which can integrate with the organization’s environment (EMR, PACS, modalities, hemodynamic machines, etc.), and work as a centralized database that provides uniform reporting. These organizations don’t want the CVIS to just be a system on top of other systems.

Another contributing factor standing in the way of organizations successfully utilizing structured reporting systems include the lack of clinical intuitive features that facilitate the clinician’s ability to provide quality care, such as automated scoring calculation, automated clinical guidelines updates and automated report conclusions based on clinical expertise. The lack of customization and flexibility in a CVIS solution can also become an issue hindering organizations from taking advantage of structured reporting, such as the lack of customization of protocols to include new clinical fields in the procedure descriptions, or the inability to use different languages.

 CardioReport 360 makes the difference as a CVIS by addressing these blocking points and bringing some unique features streamlining physicians’ daily practice:

• Scalability — Does the CVIS have the ability to capture data seamlessly and in a uniform manner from systems software, and can it handle growing amounts of data as your organization expands over time?
• Up to date — CVIS platforms should be proactive in staying up to date with latest clinical guidelines, and integrate latest devices, newest techniques and follow most recent recommendations to deliver the best and most accurate care possible.
• Multiple language capabilities — The ability to select multiple languages for report generation, offering both convenience for patients and flexibility to providers.
• Centralization — Can the database system function as the center of the cardiovascular information network, rather than a simple and limited peripheral program? The CVIS should feature centralization of all information (dosimetry, pressures, measurements, dynamic drawing, key PACS images, etc.) from the cardiac procedure.
• Imaging capabilities — It’s important to have a system that allows clinicians to easily access as many forms of high-quality images as possible from all entry points into the system.
• Workflow — CVIS should streamline physicians’ workflow by intuitively guiding them through a process that effectively provides procedural data, real-time reports and updates their organization’s electronic health records. Make sure whatever system you purchase can easily process and translate all data, images and documentation and guide clinicians to next steps in a user-friendly manner.
• Inventory capabilities — The ability to update inventory in real-time, with effortless recording and tracking of all materials and devices before, during and after the procedure using techniques like barcode scanning.
• Cloud connectivity/remote access — The ability for healthcare providers to access reports and images from anywhere is a must-have convenient feature of CVIS.
• Registries — The ability to track missing information and inconsistent data during the procedure and automated transfer of mandatory procedure data to national or state cardiovascular registries.

To summarize, the CVIS should have a central role in clinical settings and its purpose is to streamline information across different systems, including the EMR, hemodynamic system and any other operation that exists in cardiac cath labs.

To read the full article, check out Dicardiology.

JULY 5, 2022