Cloud-based Images Help Montefiore Doctors with Referrals

At Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y., physicians often review medical images of referred patients who aren't yet official patients of the institution--a review that helps them determine if the case warrants their clinical expertise. Cloud-based services are helping them view high-quality medical images, like MRIs and CT scans, and collaborate on the diagnosis and treatment plans of high-risk, referred patients, without having to trade film, disks, or order new tests.

"Doctors here get a lot of referrals from around the world," said Mony Weschler, director of ancillary informatics at Montefiore, the university hospital of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "A lot of patients need consults to see if they're eligible for our care." But during that "in-between" time, in which a referred patient isn't yet an official patient of Montefiore, there are often many images that Montefiore doctors need to review.