Breast cancer portal to help patients, doctors

A secure patient portal that accesses a digital image repository is being welcomed by both doctors and U.S. breast-cancer patients, who often have to carry heavy films and CDs to appointments. The portal further ensures that those appointments can proceed as planned with necessary data about patients easily accessible and enables patients and their families to be more involved in their treatment.

I3 Archive Inc., along with IBM Corp., formally unveiled MyNDMA, in mid-November. MyNDMA is a patient health-management portal to i3's National Digital Medical Archive (NDMA), a grid-based repository of digital mammography images and related data. Once a female patient has signed up for an annual $14.95 subscription to the portal, digital mammograms can be uploaded and stored there and she can determine which medical professionals have access to the images.

MyNDMA includes other features such as the ability to opt into clinical trials, a calendar to remind patients of upcoming appointments, a place to keep a health journal to track the course of the disease, a family tree builder to help determine disease risk factors, links to support groups and the location of digital imaging facilities. There is also the option for $25 to digitize a film-based mammogram.

Kim DiCiccio is a breast cancer survivor who has endured two crippling bouts with the disease, the first occurring 10 years ago when she was 32, with a recurrence five years later. She has had numerous health appointments over the past decade. "Every time I went through another step, I had to make sure my film was with me," she said. "No doctor, no second opinion will look at you without your film." Patients can't retain their mammograms, so DiCiccio would have to go and physically get the images from the facility storing them, take them to her appointment, and later return them to the original facility.

The last thing any patient battling a deadly disease needs is an additional burden, according to DiCiccio. "With the turmoil of all this, you're just not thinking clearly," she said, so it's easy to forget images on yet another trip to the doctor.

With MyNDMA, an enrolled patient can electronically ensure beforehand that the physician will have access to mammograms. "It makes life so much easier," DiCiccio said.

The main reason DiCiccio prefers the hospital she goes to is that it's home to most of her films. With MyNDMA, should she want a second opinion from another facility, "I can just go and do that," DiCiccio said. Dr. Lisa Weinstock, director of Women's Digital Imaging of Ridgewood in Ridgewood, New Jersey, also welcomes the flexibility that MyNDMA provides to her patients. "Women love the idea of controlling and having access to their own records," she said.

Many of Weinstock's patients travel or move frequently and find it a major problem to ensure that their medical records follow them. "Time and time again, you hear about records being lost," she said, whether through bad luck, natural disaster or the closing of facilities. "Patients can be delayed months in getting their images," Weinstock said.

DiCiccio has three daughters. She said MyNDMA will be a useful resource for her children in the genetic testing they'll need to ascertain whether they are likely to develop the disease.