Pioneering New CVIS Combines Unification of Reporting and Automated Update of Clinical Guidelines
Update Promises Increased Efficiency and Accuracy
By Dr. Serge Makowski
Most current cardiovascular information systems (CVIS) don’t give cardiologists the ability to adequately describe and report complex procedures. Adopting structured reporting and following the latest clinical guidelines are some of the key success factors to ensure increased patient safety and better care. A unified and modern CVIS platform integrates advanced reporting features and contains the most up-to-date cardiology guidelines, which not only ensures the clinician has access to the best data possible, but also allows for a better patient journey.
Cardiology is a research-driven field, thus its practice guidelines receive regular updates. As new guidelines become available, a unified CVIS platform featuring structured reporting needs to integrate this information with no lag time to ensure the clinician has the latest data. Furthermore, by having access to the latest techniques, medical devices, protocols, and clinical recommendations, a cardiologist can offer the most accurate diagnoses and perform the most suitable procedures. Such innovations benefit the clinician and the clinic, but most importantly, they benefit the patient.
The need for tools to follow the latest guidelines
How does a lack of proper tools to keep up with the evolution of clinical guidelines affect the clinician and the delivery of healthcare?
First off, by not using a unified, structured reporting CVIS platform that updates guidelines automatically, a clinic must rely on third parties (or their IT department) to perform the update, which risks the data becoming obsolete—or worse, lost. Additionally, current CVIS platforms do not incorporate clinical expertise. A unified system consolidates the clinician’s report by the time the procedure is finished, thus giving all clinicians access to the first-hand observation and documentation that is essential to improving patient care and ensuring accurate data.
Doctors have to be aware of the latest clinical guidelines whenever they treat patients. But manually updating an information management system is a time- and resource-consuming process that usually involves professionals from other fields, such as IT or research and development. CVIS platforms should update automatically to give clinicians access to the latest techniques, newest devices, and most recent recommendations; this enhances the quality of generated reports and patient treatment overall.
Benefits of updating guidelines and techniques
How do patients, providers, and the healthcare system benefit from updated guidelines? Following are two examples of how a unified CVIS platform with updated clinical guidelines can benefit all involved.
In the case of a bifurcation, knowing the latest techniques is of the utmost necessity. An updated CVIS platform must implement accurate clinical fields to document techniques such as T-stenting, crush technique, and Y-stenting. To be more precise, imagine how much cardiology would have benefitted if the DK crush stent had been available on clinics’ CVIS platforms immediately upon its market debut in 2005.
As another example, coronary stenoses used to be traditionally classified as ABC lesion type (Age, Biomarkers, and Clinical history). Today, lesions are evaluated using SYNTAX scores, which allows for a more precise and accurate evaluation of their severity. Furthermore, a unified, up-to-date CVIS platform is continually amended so that SYNTAX scores are always used moving forward.
Overall, the benefits of a unified CVIS with multiple reporting parameters and updated guidelines allow physicians to generate high-quality and accurate reports much more easily, thereby improving efficiency and accuracy. Doctors no longer need to use multiple applications to complete their patient report, and the intelligent report generated by the CVIS will include all key data. Such a CVIS platform will go above and beyond hemodynamic management and the documentation of the procedure and will benefit the clinician, the clinic, and the patient.
Dr. Serge Makowski is a founder and CEO, along with Dr. Fabrice Beverelli, of MediReport, a global supplier of cloud-based software for medical applications. The company invented CardioReport 360 Suite™ to improve clinical workflows, save time, improve quality, and generate revenue for client organizations. For more information, please visit medireport.net.