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EHRs improve portal image review compliance
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 30, 2012
Physicians who use electronic health records to review portal images had better compliance with image review timeliness and record-keeping guidelines than physicians who reviewed the portal images manually, according to a study in the July Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Portal images are used to verify a patient’s positioning during radiation treatments to ensure that their placement reduces exposure to normal tissue and that an accurate dose is delivered to tumors. A total of 411 portal images were reviewed, half by EHR, the other half manually. Only 1% of the portal images reviewed through an EHR incurred compliance violations, compared with 25% of images viewed manually using radiographic film or printouts.
Researchers said the only violation incurred with checking portal images on an EHR was having the images checked after more than one business day (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/07/30/bibf0730.htm.