July 19, 2013 — Practice Fusion, the largest physician-patient platform in the United States, announced the launch of its Medical Imaging API to digitally connect imaging centers to physicians. Upcoming changes in the Meaningful Use federal electronic health record (EHR) incentive program will require physicians to order and receive imaging results electronically, putting pressure on the $10-billion-a-year imaging industry to offer their services through an EHR, as pharmacies and labs have done in recent years. Practice Fusion's API offers imaging centers the first single-interface solution capable of serving all their clients.
Imaging centers that connect with the API establish a single connection available to any provider who requests integration. This simple, cost-effective solution also gives hospital-based and independent imaging centers exposure to tens of thousands of referring providers looking for a digital imaging connection to fulfill Meaningful Use. Connection is free to providers, and Practice Fusion's implementation teams can rapidly integrate providers in a matter of days or weeks.
Key Facts:
- There are 7,000 licensed medical imaging centers in the United States, providing X-ray, ultrasound, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), PET/CT (positron emission tomography/computed tomography), mammography and other diagnostic imaging services
- Imaging centers have few digital connections with providers compared to pharmacies and labs, who were included in Meaningful Use from the start of the program
- Stage 2 of Meaningful Use requires that physicians receive imaging results within an EHR and order 30 percent of their radiology reports electronically
- Eighty-five percent of medical professionals on Practice Fusion regularly order imaging studies, with a typical doctor ordering 1-2 every day and 25 percent ordering more than 10 studies a week
- Practice Fusion's existing lab API has enabled nearly 250 clinical labs to connect to tens of thousands of medical professionals, and the Practice Fusion platform now processes nearly one million lab orders every month and 100,000 prescriptions every day
For more information: www.practicefusion.com/imaging
April 03, 2024 
