By MIKE MUSCATO
When we set out to research how medical imaging and report sharing was to get any foothold in the community, we found out quickly that the resistance sits clearly on the image providers. We have heard everything from “we’re not sharing!” and “why would we do that?” to “I don’t want patients to have that information. It was extremely disheartening that some in our medical community would take a stance against a system that promoted knowledge to the patient, ease of access to the referring provider, as well as manageability for all parties. The challenge was to put together a strategy that flew in the face of the facility centric model in the radiology clinics and gain acceptance of a system that promotes a completely patient-centric model. We have changed the paradigm in other industries such as EBT, EDI, logistics and finance, but diagnostic image storage and sharing was a completely different problem to solve.
But then I took a look at how John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan has turned the legal system upside down by providing a “its free unless we win your case” model, and his “for the people” message resonated with the right audience and suddenly the insurance companies found themselves on the wrong side of that business model and gasping for air. That was extremely empowering for us, and we decided to build a similar model in the diagnostic imaging arena and apply it to the national patient centric Image and Report sharing problem. With that torch lit, we have successfully built MIMIC (My IMage In the Cloud), a “free to everybody in the medical chain” model and also providing a cost free PACS to the image provider facility. This allows the image provider to free up budget to purchase additional imaging equipment or hire personnel that assists in providing quality of care for their patients.
We have been in the integration business for over 35 years and have a long history of partnering closely with our customers as opposed to being a vendor. Part of the success for any business relies on your technology partner(s) supporting your business and healthcare goals with the same level of commitment and passion. A secondary goal of MIMIC is to provide tools and functionality to the Image providers that enable them to be successful in their business while providing exceptional patient care.
With the deep experience of our medical team, the mission to provide the technology footprint enabling this sharing at no cost to all participants was quite challenging. However, our business model remains: all studies and reports from any source must be absolutely free, providing easy transition in any imaging location. We are excited to have such a patient centric business such as UDI in our network. Their experience will continue to drive our features and functions within the MIMIC network.
Our focus imaging partner locally is University Diagnostic Imaging, a long standing icon here in the Central Florida community led by Dr. George Stanley. Dr. Stanley was instrumental in the build of the MIMIC system and continues to be a valuable asset to the continued evolution of MIMIC.
Dr. George Stanley, owner of UDI, said, “We set out to participate in a patient-centric radiology sharing network. When patients have to go through an imaging center or hospital to obtain a copy of their imaging data, it is an extremely cumbersome process. With MIMIC, patients’ access to their own imaging record is instantaneous. Putting the patient at the center of their health is the philosophy UDI shares with MIMIC and aligns with our approach to healthcare at UDI. Now with the MIMIC network, all of our referring physicians and their patients have instant access to everything we do here at UDI. Patients engaged in their own health care are more empowered and it is beneficial to them and me as their physician.” Additionally, Dr. Stanley stated, “…sharing a common goal with MIMIC’s seasoned team and watching this integration easily come together was amazing! Taking advantage of this free service was an easy decision to make.”
Today, the MIMIC system continues to increase its acceptance and its brand by teaming up with Radiology Information System vendors to plug directly into this Free offering and providing a quality network.
Michael A Muscato is an entrepreneur with a 35-plus year career in the technology industry and is best known for building high volume, highly scalable, reliable transaction processing solutions and putting them into commercially available companies. Today, his company is currently a major player in providing EDI operability to large claims clearinghouses nationally, as well as a leader in providing high-volume financial transaction processing solutions worldwide. Email him at mikemuscato@twistedceptors.com
