lifeIMAGE Joins Commonwell Health Alliance

NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--lifeIMAGE, the nation’s most adopted medical image exchange platform across health care networks, providers and patients, today announced it has joined CommonWell Health Alliance, an industry consortium of health information technology-focused companies that use their diverse, collective experience across the care continuum to break down the barriers that have stood in the way of nationwide data exchange. The alliance includes market leaders and technology innovators that support care settings such as post-acute, imaging, perinatal, laboratory, retail pharmacy, oncology, population health, emergency services and more. lifeIMAGE will champion the expansion of CommonWell services to include access to medical images directly in a provider’s electronic health record (EHR), regardless of where those images were captured.

“Provider access to patient imaging records, regardless of where exams were ordered, performed or stored, is crucial to ensure the best patient care possible,” said Matthew A. Michela, CEO and president of lifeIMAGE. “Because of the broad adoption of our image exchange network in the United States, we believe we have an obligation to advance interoperability and look forward to working with CommonWell and its members to accelerate that outcome.”

In today’s health care continuum, patients often receive care from multiple health care systems, which drives the need for improved provider access to a complete EHR. Access to a patient’s imaging history is paramount in diagnosis and treatment among specialists such as cardiology, oncology, pediatrics, emergency medicine, radiology and burn care. In fact, imaging data is often the deciding factor as to whether or not a patient requires a second opinion, additional testing or an advanced medical procedure.

“The reach of the lifeIMAGE network and its commitment to ensuring hospitals, physicians and patients can securely connect and exchange exams makes it a valuable addition to our team,” said Jitin Asnaani, executive director of CommonWell Health Alliance. "We look forward to working with lifeIMAGE as we continue to promote higher quality health care by making interoperability ubiquitous.”

A proponent for standards-based image exchange since its formation, lifeIMAGE brings deep domain expertise to CommonWell Health Alliance. Leading health care systems in the United States have implemented its interoperable platform because it provides a comprehensive and integrated approach to enterprise image sharing. By collaborating with CommonWell and its members, lifeIMAGE intends to bring the value of image access to more providers and their patients across the country.

“The ability to access and digitally exchange vital health data, including patient imaging records, enables providers to work toward the delivery of high quality care," said Bob Robke, chairman of the CommonWell board of directors and vice president of interoperability at Cerner. "The growth of CommonWell membership brings our industry and country closer to nationwide data exchange. We applaud lifeIMAGE for its commitment to the alliance."

The lifeIMAGE network consists of nearly 800 health care facilities and more than 150,000 clinical users, who routinely exchange medical images to diagnose and treat patients. For more information regarding the lifeIMAGE 4.0 platform, visit www.lifeimage.com.

About lifeIMAGE
lifeIMAGE is an interoperable medical image sharing network that helps healthcare providers access their patients’ imaging records, regardless of where exams are performed or stored. It has been adopted by more than 125 multi-site health systems across the country to improve care coordination for patient consultations, referrals and transfers. Providers use lifeIMAGE to improve the quality and timeliness of care, expand referral business, and eliminate wasteful spending.

About CommonWell Health Alliance
CommonWell Health Alliance is a not-for-profit trade association of health IT companies working together to create universal access to health data nationwide. CommonWell members represent 72% of the acute care EHR market1 and 34% of the ambulatory care EHR market,2 as well as market leaders and technology innovators supporting care settings such as post-acute care, imaging, perinatal, laboratory, retail pharmacy, oncology, population health, emergency services and more. CommonWell and its members are committed to the belief that provider access to health data must be built into information technologies at a reasonable cost for use by a broad range of health care providers and the populations and people they serve.

To learn more about CommonWell Health Alliance, visit www.commonwellalliance.org. Engage with CommonWell on our Blog, as well as through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter using the handle, @CommonWell. CommonWell Health Alliance® and the CommonWell Logo are registered trademarks of CommonWell Health Alliance Inc.

1 KLAS - Clinical Market Share 2015, August 2015. © 2015 KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. www.KLASresearch.com
2 SK&A, a Cegedim Company - “EHR Vendor Market Share by Physician Size”, January 2015.