Konica Minolta is aiming to more effectively connect data across the entire patient episode to help clinicians deliver better care at lower costs amid the industry shift to value-based reimbursement. 

"Moving into HIMSS18 and beyond, we are actively engaged in bringing intelligent analytics into our data and patient management capabilities," said Steve Deaton, president of healthcare IT for Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas.

Konica Minolta officially launched its Exa Enterprise Imaging platform at HIMSS17 in Orlando. 

“Over the past year, our focus has been to tie together consistent information from the beginning of the patient care episode all the way through to completion to help clinicians ensure the care provided is thorough and complete,” Deaton said. 

Exa is an end-to-end imaging management system that offers providers many ways to gain insights into the whos, whats, wheres, whens and whys of test ordering – helping improve efficiency and quality and reduce costs, while also boosting cybersecurity of protected health information. The platform's modules – PACS, RIS, EHR and specialty viewers – along with its workflow engine design and other toolsets can compose an integrated suite, or be deployed individually with other existing software programs. 

Exa’s Server-Side Rendering "delivers speed of access regardless of file size, a single integrated database for a truly integrated and unified solution across all modules and Zero Footprint Viewer offering full diagnostic toolsets and viewing capabilities for all types of imaging studies," said Deaton. That includes DICOM images (such as digital breast tomosynthesis) and non-DICOM (echocardiograms and nuclear medicine).

At HIMSS18, Konica Minolta is showcasing the latest platform with a focus on how it can help health systems and imaging centers manage episodes of care, with capabilities that include "matching patient demographics to the order and the reason for a study; using notifications to track the status of an unread study; and the use of portals for image sharing to physicians, patients and others involved in the coordination of care," he added.

Value-based reimbursement is affecting all areas of healthcare, not least radiology, and the Exa platform is built with features in mind that aim to drive the twin goals of quality improvement and cost reduction. Deaton pointed to the capability to use logic to identify keywords in prior reports that contain relevant information a radiologist should have when reviewing an imaging study.

"Exa’s performance dashboards provide information at a glance on daily exam volume, studies by type of imaging device and technologist, radiologist performance, referring physician patterns,” Deaton said. "The goal is to improve workflow and efficiency so the radiologist can focus first on what is most important or critical, and avoid reading studies that may have incomplete or pending information.”

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com