As a proud supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Life Image, the world’s largest global interoperability network for sharing clinical and imaging data, today announced it will offer membership to its one-of-a-kind breast health management platform, Mammosphere, free of charge if participants sign up in October. Mammosphere allows women to electronically request their breast imaging records from doctors, store them on a secure and HIPAA-compliant platform, and share them with their care team members and specialists.
Access to prior mammograms is critical for women during all phases of their breast health journey, from routine screenings to treatment and remission. For example, having prior mammograms available for comparison during routine screenings can reduce false positives by 40 to 60% and enable doctors to catch 30% of cancers earlier when they are more treatable.
Despite federal laws giving patients the right to access to their own medical records in a timely manner and in the format of their choosing, patients often have a difficult time obtaining their records. A recent study by Yale shows a high degree of noncompliance with patient requests among healthcare organizations.
As a result, every year millions of women arrive at their screening or oncology appointments without their prior mammograms available. Life Image’s Mammosphere platform securely compiles a patient’s health information digitally, mitigating this problem. Focused on breast health, it empowers women to own their medical history in order to take control of current and future care.
“We encourage women to own their medical records so they are free to share with a care team, advocate for their own health or to contribute to breast cancer research. Mammosphere is a unique tool that can overcome the many technical challenges of compiling diagnostic images and combining them with other data such as labs and reports,” said Matthew A. Michela, CEO and President, Life Image. “Data sharing with patients is not a technology issue. The federal government recognizes this as a compliance problem and has been very active recently to mandate systemwide changes with strict penalties to prevent data blocking and give consumers more control.”
In addition to offering a free membership to Mammosphere if women sign up during the month of October, Life Image is also launching its My Data, My Rights campaign to raise awareness around patients’ rights to access and own their health data, the importance of controlling personal health data, and how to navigate the healthcare system to effectively obtain this information. The campaign aims to demonstrate to women the importance of owning and understanding their breast health history, as it is pivotal to current and future care. As part of the campaign, Life Image is partnering with local leaders as well as nonprofit and advocacy groups focused on breast cancer, including Are You Dense, Inc.
“As an organization focused on educating women on the risks and challenges associated with dense breast tissue, we know that knowledge is critical for advocacy,” said Joe Cappello, Co-Founder, Are You Dense, Inc. “We are excited to partner with Mammosphere for Breast Cancer Awareness Month to advance our shared goal of educating and empowering women to take control of their breast health experience.”
The Privacy Rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) gives patients the right to access their medical records in the form and format of their choosing. The requests must be fulfilled within 30 days of receipt. Too often, hospitals and doctors’ offices provide the information in hard copies or on a CD, an outdated physical media that’s nearly obsolete in the consumer world.
“Life Image is dedicated to providing women with a healthcare experience as simple and useful as any other experience they have in their digital lives,” said Cristin Gardner, Director of Life Image’s Consumer Division. “Over 60 million women receive breast care in the U.S. With such a large and engaged population, the consumer experience around this should be one the most seamless and modern experiences in healthcare. As part of our corporate citizenship in the month of October, we are committed to helping to empower women with information and tools to take control of their breast health data while also continuing to raise awareness among healthcare offices about the federal rules that support the patient’s right to own and control their medical data.”
Life Image’s My Data, My Rights campaign will run throughout October with a focus on key regions across the U.S., including the Chicago metro area, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, North and South Dakota, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wisconsin. To download Mammosphere or learn more about Life Image’s My Data, My Rights campaign, visit https://go.lifeimage.com/my-data-my-rights.
