Medical imaging among most shared medical information

PARCA eNews – Sept. 2, 2018 – With all the drive over the past decade to get electronic medical records and then make those records shareable among physicians, specialists and other on the patient’s healthcare team, have you ever wondered what patient information is most often shared?

In a report by the Centers for Disease Control published in National Health Statistics Reports, medical imaging is the third most shared medical data among physicians, just behind referrals and laboratory data

The report is based on a survey conducted in 2015 among non-federal, office-based physicians. The results show that among those office-based physicians who sent patient health information (PHI) electronically, the most commonly observed types of PHI sent were referrals (67.9%), laboratory results (67.2%), and medication lists (65.1%). Among physicians who received PHI electronically, the most commonly observed types of PHI received were laboratory results (78.8%), imaging reports (60.8%), and medication lists (54.4%).

The researchers conducted the analysis to establish a first national benchmark for understanding the types of PHI that are electronically sent, received, integrated, and searched for by physicians with EHR systems, and could also be used as a benchmark for future research.