Image Share Project (Finally) Enables People to Share and Access Radiology Results

Today Laura Landro reports in the WSJ on the Image Share Project. According to her Informed Patient column, people who want to access and share radiology images pertaining to their health, such as MRIs or CT scans, can do so using this program. The platform enables easier transmission of electronic versions of large, detailed images. Pilot medical centers involved include New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, UCSF and the Mayo Clinic.

The Radiological Society of North America is on board with the program. This makes sense, among other reasons because funding comes from the NIH’s National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). According to the WSJ: “This is all about giving patients control of their health information and engaging them in their own care,” said David Mendelson, director of radiology-information systems at Mount Sinai and a principal investigator on the project.

I’m fine with this – how could I not be? Great, super, and of course patients should have access to electronic files of their x-ray images! Except why has it taken so long? Hard to fathom that in 2013 we’re exploring “pilot” sites where patients can enroll in a program that allows them to transmit their electronic health images to doctors in other cities.

Sooo 2003, you’d think.

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