Product Review News Review of SonixHub IT
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Review of SonixHub IT
The motivation for developing the product came from Emergency Medicine physicians looking for a better solution to manage Emergency Ultrasound credentialing and quality assurance. Emergency Physicians must be credentialed (given privileges) by the hospital to use ultrasound for clinical decision making. In order to become credentialed, the Physicians must be trained. This training includes class room time and clinical ultrasound scanning of a minimum of 150 to 200 exams of 6 to 8 exam types (guidelines established by the American College of Emergency Physicians). The exams have to be over-read by someone credentialed in Emergency Ultrasound or accredited in ultrasound. Today that process is mostly paper-based. The Emergency Physician does the exam; the exam images and documentation (worksheet that documents indications, findings, and interpretation) are printed and sent to a reviewer for over-read. The reviewer assesses the exam on paper and returns the exam to the originator to review the feedback. The paper record is then archived. Even after being credentialed, Emergency Physicians must be assessed each year in a quality assurance program. This has also been mostly paper-based in the past.
Emergency Physician residents must go through an Emergency Medicine program that includes ultrasound training and become credentialed. These programs must manage thousands of ultrasound exams for over-read each year. Usually one to three physicians is responsible for this task, which can be a huge task. Quality can be compromised because of a cumbersome process. Other physicians that use ultrasound at the point of care (Critical Care, Anesthesia, Office-based ultrasound) will be required to be trained and credentialed, so the same applies as for Emergency Physicians.
Automate and manage the ultrasound credentialing and quality assurance process for point-of-care physicians
Manage all ultrasound data for a department
Manage and standardize ultrasound education in the department
Manage collaboration between physicians
Augment ultrasound research
Interface between any ultrasound system and the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to automate attaching the ultrasound exam data to the patient record
Interface between any ultrasound system and the Billing system to automate the ultrasound billing process
Assess clinical effectiveness in the use of ultrasound in certain clinical settings
- Reduce the time and cost to educate and credential point-of-care physicians who use ultrasound
- Reduce the time and cost to implement a continuous quality improvement program for point-of-care ultrasound
- Improve compliance and the ability to show compliance if audited
- Reduce the time and cost to submit documentation to bill for point-of-care ultrasound.
- Reduce lost revenue due to a cumbersome process.
- Improve reimbursement rates.
- Improve the efficiency of point-of-care ultrasound research
- Improve overall patient care by point-of-care physicians that use ultrasound because training is improved and more consistent with established guidelines.
The only products that are similar to SonixHUB are hosted services provided by third party vendors. The ultrasound exams are uploaded to a server outside the hospital and are managed by the vendor. The physicians access the ultrasound exams and complete exam credentialing over the Internet. These services are strictly used to manage ultrasound credentialing and quality assurance, not clinical management. These services can charge anywhere from $2.50 to $6 per exam. SonixHUB is a onetime fixed cost purchase with warranty and support.
SonixHUB is a small ultrasound data management tool (6.5" x 6.5" x 2" - 3 lbs) that connects to the hospital's network. It is turn-key system that requires very little IT support and is considered an accessory to a department's ultrasound systems. SonixHUB works with any ultrasound system and is intended to manage ultrasound data in the department, manage the credentialing and quality assurance program, act as a data broker to the hospitals Electronic Medical Record system, interface to Billing systems and be used for overall ultrasound data management. Today, most hospitals use either a totally paper-based process or some in-house designed solution that works marginally better than the paper process.
