National Decision Support Company Announces Rapid Adoption of Imaging Decision Support

ANDOVER, Mass., Sept. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- National Decision Support Company (NDSC) continues to expand its customer base with more than 60 healthcare provider organizations adopting ACR Select for use within their electronic health record (EHR) order entry workflow.

According to Bob Cooke, VP of Marketing, NDSC, "adoption of ACR Select has increased significantly since the passage of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, which requires ordering physicians to consult appropriate use criteria when ordering advanced imaging procedures."

"The quality of the American College of Radiology's content and our integration approach are the contributing factors that have led to growth within the Epic customer base," said Cooke. "Our integration helps clients interested in ACR Select implement a comprehensive strategy for introducing ACR Select into their EHR workflow."

A number of leading healthcare provider organizations have already adopted or begun implementing ACR Select. The list includes notable institutions including Allina Health, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System, Loma Linda Medical Center, Montefiore Medical Center, University of Rochester, and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

"We selected ACR Select because of the tight level of integration with Epic. The simple integration of ACR Select content enabled a rapid implementation and minimal disruptions to the order entry workflow. Enabling more appropriate utilization of imaging is core to our clinical integration program," said David Roelke, Vice Chair, ProHealth Care Quality Committee. ProHealth Care, a large community based provider in Southeast WI, is part of an accountable care organization in which radiologists are participants and ACR Select is an integral part of the organizations imaging shared savings program.

"Previously the highest rate of adoption has been in providers where state level legislation favored the use of Imaging CDS in lieu of prior authorization. Now, federal legislation has further increased adoption on a national level," said Cooke.

ACR Select is a powerful tool to reduce costs associated with unnecessary imaging. Through implementation of ACR Select, healthcare providers obtain the necessary tools to decrease costs and improve quality across the care continuum.

About National Decision Support Company
National Decision Support Company (NDSC) is the exclusive distributor of national standards clinical decision support (CDS) imaging guidelines. NDSC provides the technical platform, support, and licensing of digitally consumable CDS that continuously educates providers regarding the latest evidence-based approach to medicine without disrupting the doctor-patient relationship or delaying needed care. For more information, visit www.NationalDecisionSupport.com.

About ACR Select
ACR Select, provided by National Decision Support Company, is the complete web service version of American College of Radiology (ACR) Appropriateness Criteria® (AC). ACR AC is a comprehensive national standards clinical decision support database that provides evidence-based decision support for the appropriate utilization of all medical imaging procedures. More than 300 volunteer physicians, representing more than 20 radiology and non-radiology specialty organizations, participate on the ACR AC expert panels, continuously updating these nationally transparent guidelines, and providing real-time access to the latest medical imaging decision support. The ACR Select platform can be easily integrated with computerized ordering and electronic health record (EHR) systems so healthcare organizations can effortlessly consume ACR AC guidelines and ensure that the right patient gets the right scan for the right indication. For more information, visit www.ACRselect.org.

Around the web

The patient, who was being cared for in the ICU, was not accompanied or monitored by nursing staff during his exam, despite being sedated.

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.