Firm Acquires Imaging Vendor for EHR Access
HealthMark Group acquired Purview, an imaging technology company, to expand digital access to medical images within EHRs. The move aims to make imaging data as accessible as other clinical information through platforms like Epic and via FHIR APIs. This acquisition highlights a growing industry trend toward unifying disparate data sources for better care coordination in acute and telehealth settings.
- A significant driver for this acquisition is that an estimated two-thirds of radiological images are still shared via physical CDs, a cumbersome process HealthMark's CEO, Bart Howe, aims to eliminate by integrating Purview's cloud technology. - This is HealthMark Group's fourth transaction in the United States but its first in the Internet Software and Services sector, signaling a strategic expansion into broader health data management. - A major pain point for ICU nurses is the fragmented nature of EHRs, where imaging data is often stored in separate Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS), hindering a unified view of the patient's record. This acquisition aims to solve that by making DICOM imaging files directly accessible within the EHR. - For Epic users, third-party imaging solutions can be integrated through the App Orchard, a marketplace for applications that link with Epic's platform to improve clinical workflows, such as providing instant mobile access to patient photos or importing outside DICOM images. - The use of FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) APIs is central to this effort, as it provides a modern, web-based standard for different health IT systems to securely exchange specific pieces of clinical information, including imaging reports. - Frustrations for nurses using EHRs often include physician-centric design, redundant data entry, and poor workflow navigation, which increases documentation time. Nurse informaticists are crucial for optimizing these systems by redesigning workflows and ensuring technology supports clinical practice rather than hindering it. - To transition from an ICU role to nursing informatics, obtaining the Nursing Informatics Certification (NI-BC) from the ANCC is a key credential. Eligibility often requires at least two years of full-time RN practice and a minimum of 1,000 to 2,000 hours of informatics-related experience. - Artificial intelligence applications, like those from Aidoc, are also being integrated into EHRs via the Epic App Orchard to analyze medical data, identify suspected positive findings in images, and provide real-time actionable insights to care teams.
