June 20, 2012 — Nuance Communications Inc. and Radimetrics announced the integration of their technologies, which together will help radiologists to monitor and report on patient exposure to imaging-related radiation. Together, Nuance and Radimetrics, a provider of radiation dose monitoring and management software, will allow hospitals and imaging centers to automate dose reporting as part of the PowerScribe 360 | Reporting platform, a speech-enabled documentation.
Beginning July 1, 2012, the state of California will require facilities performing computed tomography (CT) scans to record radiation dose as part of patients’ radiology reports or as an attached protocol page. While California is the first state to take official action to manage and control this issue, numerous groups including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Joint Commission, Image Wisely, Image Gently and others are working to address patient radiation overexposure across the United States.
“Through the integration of PowerScribe with Radimetrics’ software, Nuance is taking the lead on providing a radiation dose reporting mechanism that helps safeguard patients without tasking radiologists with another layer of reporting complexity,” said Janet Dillione, executive vice president and general manager of Nuance Healthcare. “The California mandate to regulate overexposure to imaging-related radiation is a sign of things to come. Like other healthcare regulations, such as meaningful use and ICD-10, our goal is to help healthcare organizations get ahead of such transitions and in the case of the California law to reduce negative side effects of diagnostic exams and increase patient safety.”
The integration of Nuance’s PowerScribe 360 | Reporting with Radimetrics’ eXposure solution will allow radiologists across the country to automate the inclusion of radiation dose information as part of the patient report without reliance on manual input, which can be prone to error and disruptive to clinical documentation workflow. Additionally, as a result of this integration radiologists will be able to easily track patients’ radiation exposure across scans and ensure that scans are performed in accordance with appropriate imaging protocol.
“Working with Nuance is a natural extension of our commitment to radiation dose management and will immediately allow us to support the SB1237 California law, as well as accelerate dose management best practices across the country,” said Gregory Couch, CEO of Radimetrics. “By integrating eXposure with PowerScribe 360 | Reporting, we’re evolving radiology reporting in line with current state, federal and industry mandates so our customers can easily comply with today’s regulations and stay ahead of tomorrow’s.”
For more information: www.radimetrics.com, www.nuance.com/for-healthcare/