The Current State and Path Forward For Enterprise Image Viewing: HIMSS-SIIM Collaborative White Paper

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Health Information Technology
• Clinical Imaging

Background:

• Clinical specialties require diverse diagnostic image interpretation and multimedia content viewing.
• Enterprise viewers are integral to electronic health record (EHR) implementations for managing this content.
• Current healthcare systems often face challenges with multiple, disparate clinical image viewers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the use cases and growth drivers of enterprise viewers in healthcare.
• To outline technical considerations and functional differences between enterprise and specialty viewers.
• To project future states of image enablement within EHR systems.

Main Methods:

• This white paper provides a descriptive analysis of enterprise viewer technology.
• It synthesizes information on use cases, technical requirements, and market trends.
• The content is targeted towards Chief Medical Information Officers (CMIOs) and Chief Information Officers (CIOs).

Main Results:

• Enterprise viewers offer a unified solution for diverse clinical imaging and multimedia content within EHRs.
• Key drivers for adoption include the need for integrated diagnostic image interpretation and streamlined workflows.
• Understanding technical considerations and feature sets is crucial for effective implementation.

Conclusions:

• Optimizing image enablement within EHRs requires strategic deployment of enterprise viewers.
• Healthcare organizations can benefit from a comprehensive understanding of viewer functionalities to improve clinical practice.
• Future developments will likely focus on enhanced integration and advanced capabilities for enterprise viewers.