ROCHESTER, N.Y. - eHealth Global Technologies, Inc. (eHGT) is pleased to announce that the HealtheConnections™ RHIO of Central New York has recently incorporated access to diagnostic-quality medical images into its array of medical information that is readily available at providers' fingertips. This service, Axolotl® Image Exchange, is offered by eHGT in partnership with Axolotl, and enables secure, rapid, and simple access to diagnostic images in seamless harmony with Axolotl's HIE platform. HealtheConnections joins existing Axolotl Exchange customers Franciscan Health System (Tacoma, WA) and the Rochester RHIO (Rochester, NY), as a growing number of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) are taking advantage of this innovative service.

Axolotl Image Exchange will benefit patient care by enabling participating healthcare providers to quickly access images originating at multiple radiology and cardiology image-provider sites, with a single click, and within the context of electronic patient records regardless of where they are located across the community served by the HealtheConnections RHIO. As a result of making images available when and where they are needed, healthcare providers and their patients will experience a reduced need for repeating unnecessary imaging exams, which will minimize patient radiation exposure. They will also be able to provide faster diagnosis and treatment, thus providing better coordination of care while reducing healthcare costs for all concerned. In addition, the costs and burden borne by providers and patients alike of reproducing, transporting, and trying to read CD and other storage media are all but eliminated.

"Axolotl Image Exchange offers a remarkable advantage over traditional methods to obtain images for referral physicians, for image intensive specialists, as well as for radiologists who need immediate access to comparison images from other locations. In seconds, authorized physicians can view their patient's images in a single viewing environment regardless of how many different PACS technologies and imaging provider locations they may have originated at. This brings many benefits never realized before, resulting in a new standard of efficiency and quality of care," says eHGT's general manager for HIE Services, Gary Larson.

"Several hospitals are already participating, and we are actively working with HealtheConnections to connect up to 20 image provider locations across Central and Northern New York to the image exchange in short order. This will provide HealtheConnections' physicians with access to essentially all radiology and cardiology images part and parcel with their associated reports," Larson added.

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