Integrated health system Geisinger has unveiled a digital tool that allows women to request, store and share their breast health records, including previous mammograms, with the hope of providing more timely and accurate breast care management.
Access to previous mammograms is critical for early detection of breast cancer. Patients without access to previous mammograms are likely to undergo more testing, and cancer detection may be delayed.
Pennsylvania-based Geisinger has partnered with Life Image, a network for sharing clinical and imaging data, on the solution called Mammosphere. The initiative is supported by a Pennsylvania Department of Health grant awarded to KeyHIE through the Pennsylvania Patient and Provider Network. (Founded in 2005 by Geisinger, KeyHIE serves more than 5.8 million patients over a large geographical area including Pennsylvania and New Jersey.)
"Mammosphere provides a resource for both patients and providers to easily share breast health images and exams,” said Joe Fisne, associate chief information officer of Geisinger, in a statement. “Mammosphere is secure and HIPAA-compliant and helps to reduce the burden on new patients of having to track down and gather their breast health history in advance of an appointment. With access to patient's mammogram history, providers will have everything needed to provide a fast and definitive interpretation of the mammogram.”
Mammosphere is designed specifically for patients and is intuitive and easy-to-use, Geisinger said. In addition to Mammosphere, Life Image and Geisinger are working to expand their collaboration into new areas of population health management, patient engagement and imaging.