NORTHBROOK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intelligent Medical Objects, Inc. (IMO), developer of the most-widely used and physician-preferred terminology service for electronic health records (EHR) systems, has been awarded a patent for its unique method and system for concept-based terminology management that simplifies clinical coding and allows healthcare providers to rapidly respond to regulatory changes. As a leading provider of medical terminology content and services supporting clinical workflow, IMO is dedicated to providing clinicians the solutions they need to easily identify and use accurate medical terminology at the point-of-care.
“The concept-based architecture described in this patent demonstrates IMO's commitment to quality and transparency in how EHR's influence care delivery services,” said Frank Naeymi-Rad, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of IMO. “The architecture allows for rapid modeling and distribution of changes in terminology to our EHR partners in response to regulatory changes and new discoveries in healthcare delivery. Our technology foundation provided the framework to meet our clients’ structured data needs for the transition to ICD-10-CM as well as Meaningful Use reporting, and we know it will flexibly handle the emerging terminology challenges that our users face now and in the future.”
“One of the great things about what IMO does is that it allows clinicians to say things in the way they want,” said Dr. Fred E. "Chip" Masarie, Jr., a Senior Advisor at IMO and named inventor. “There are so many different ways of describing a health issue, and for each description, doctors are forced to map them to individual codes. With IMO, you can capture the concept and clinical intent and map it once. We've fundamentally redeveloped and repurposed the architecture behind these coding workflows.”
Complex coding systems, as well as the implementation of disruptive coding updates, reduce productivity and documentation accuracy among clinicians. This leads to increased financial burden for clinicians and institutions. IMO allows healthcare providers to sidestep complicated coding systems in favor of the concepts they are most familiar with. These concepts are assigned within the EHR with a single identifier that IMO uses to drive all downstream coding requirements, from reimbursement and risk stratification to population health management, clinical decision support, natural language processing and machine learning.
“Our technology helps healthcare professionals stay consistent and use the high-quality terminology they need,” said Regis Charlot, President and Chief Technology Officer at IMO, as well as another named inventor of the technology. “The fact that our terminology can be used at the bedside for patients means greater reliability and efficiency, which translates to higher-quality care. In addition, IMO can help drive prospective revenue cycle management by informing the care delivery team of daily changes to patients’ diagnosis related groups (DRGs).”
In today's healthcare environment, it's more important than ever to ensure the fidelity of data. Precise, accurate information is essential to the health and viability of both healthcare providers and their patients. An increased focus on data collection, efficiency and improved health outcomes means clinicians can't afford to get lost in a tangled web of coding requirements.
Simplicity and straightforward reporting are key. When a clinician enters a clinical term into an EHR, IMO’s technology adds the appropriate billing and reference codes, mapping the concept to the necessary code sets. Laborious, manual processes are eliminated, as are their related costs and the risks associated with human error. This eases reporting for Meaningful Use (MU) Stage 3, MIPS and MACRA payments.
“Rather than forcing users to work with health information systems that have constraints put on them by reference and administrative terminologies, our system allows healthcare professionals to capture clinical intent and the patient's story quickly and accurately,” said Dr. Andrew S. Kanter, Chief Medical Officer at IMO and another of the technology's named inventors. “Higher granularity, and a more complete patient story, is the basis of more accurate downstream outcomes.”
About Intelligent Medical Objects (IMO)
IMO provides the most widely-accepted medical terminology solution for the development, management, and licensing of medical vocabularies and software applications at healthcare organizations worldwide. IMO's terminology database is used by more than 3,500 hospitals and 450,000 physicians daily, and this trusted terminology platform supports innovations by provider systems. IMO’s medical vocabulary and mapping products effectively capture clinical intent and help EHRs preserve and communicate this across the entire spectrum of care. This accelerates workflow and increases clinician utilization and satisfaction. IMO clinical terms are mapped to all standard coding systems including ICD-9, ICD-10 and SNOMED®. The accuracy of IMO’s interface terminology was found to be ‘nearly perfect’ by an independent study published by the Centers for Disease Control. Read more at www.e-imo.com.
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