Summary: Bayer and Alara Imaging, Inc. are collaborating to address inconsistent radiation doses in CT scans by improving monitoring and feedback systems in hospitals, supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ new safety measures and Alara’s software.
Key Takeaways
- Bayer and Alara Imaging are collaborating to address the issue of inconsistent radiation doses in CT scans, which can pose health risks.
- The partnership aims to enhance monitoring and feedback systems in hospitals, supported by new CMS safety measures and Alara’s software for data analysis and reporting.
- Alara Imaging’s SOC II- and HIPAA-compliant software enables secure data transfer and supports compliance with CMS quality measures in healthcare institutions.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Bayer has partnered with Alara Imaging, Inc. to tackle the issue of inconsistent radiation doses in CT scans, which can pose unnecessary health risks. This collaboration aims to reduce those risks by enhancing monitoring and feedback systems within hospitals and healthcare institutions.
Reducing Unnecessary CT Scan Radiation
To further ensure patient safety, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has implemented standardized methods for monitoring the performance of diagnostic CT scans. These methods are designed to discourage the use of unnecessarily high radiation doses by introducing new radiology patient safety electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs). These eCQMs rely on Alara Imaging’s advanced software to access and analyze primary data elements stored within radiology electronic health records. The software then translates this information into data elements essential for the calculation and reporting of eCQMs.
As the Measure Steward for CMS, Alara Imaging’s software, which is both SOC II- and HIPAA-compliant, enables health systems to securely transfer existing data from various electronic health record systems, radiology information systems, and PACS. This secure data transfer supports the necessary computations required for ensuring compliance with CMS quality measures.
Radiation Dose Management
Rich Dewit, global head of digital solutions at Bayer, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, “As leaders in radiation dose management software, Bayer is thrilled to enter into this collaboration with Alara Imaging, Inc. Bayer is committed to helping Radimetrics customers by engaging with ALARA to support their institutions’ compliance with the new Hospital Quality Reporting eCQMs by leveraging the Alara gateway.”
Nate Mazonson, CEO and co-founder of Alara Imaging, Inc., echoes this sentiment, noting, “Alara is proud to collaborate with Bayer to support health systems across the U.S. with these important patient safety measures. This partnership represents a significant step forward in enhancing the safety and quality of care provided to patients undergoing CT scans.”
