VisualDx Collaborates with American Academy of Family Physicians
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Logical Images, Inc., is pleased to announce a new project with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) to offer special diagnostic software, VisualDx Family Medicine, to the AAFP’s more than 60,000 active members. The collaboration stems from the AAFP’s mission to promote high-quality, cost-effective health care for patients by delivering tools and resources that empower family physicians to provide top quality care in a broken and strained health care system. The agreement not only includes reduced pricing on licensing through AAFP membership, but it also includes an additional two free modules for all members as well as a free trial version of the software. VisualDx, visual clinical decision support software, merges medical images with medical findings to guide diagnosis, treatment, and management of medical conditions that are visually apparent. It provides physicians and other health care professionals with instant access to more than 16,000 images that aid in the diagnosis of more than 900 visually identifiable diseases, driving better disease recognition for improved accuracy in diagnosis.
Founded in 1947, the AAFP is one of the largest national medical organizations, representing 93,800 family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students nationwide. Logical Images, Inc., has made VisualDx easy and affordable for AAFP members to obtain by promoting a free trial and reduced member pricing in the Members Discounts portion of the AAFP Website. In addition, AAFP members can access free dermatology resources such as the Morphology Tutorial: How to Describe and Classify Skin Lesions.
VisualDx is typically installed in hospitals and other health care institutions, but the new collaboration with the AAFP will bring the software to new markets, including to individual physicians and private practices.
“The American Academy of Family Physicians is pleased to offer this new cutting-edge software to our members,� said Bruce Bagley, MD, the AAFP’s Medical Director for Quality Improvement. “In a fragmented, costly, and inefficient health care system, VisualDx can help physicians optimize patient care by streamlining diagnosis protocols, which will reduce costs and make primary health care more efficient overall.�
Developed by physicians, VisualDx is organized to match the way physicians think about symptoms and diagnoses. By entering patient symptoms, signs, medical history, and other clinically relevant findings, the system refines a patient-centric differential diagnosis. The software presents this visually, so health care professionals can actually see the differential. This allows them to evaluate and analyze in direct comparison to the patient and feel confident they have considered all relevant diagnostic possibilities.
“VisualDx is used in a growing number of hospitals, clinics, public health institutions, and education centers to reduce medical error and improve quality of care,� said Dr. Art Papier, Chief Scientific Officer of Logical Images, Inc. “Approximately 20 percent of clinical visits are prompted by a skin complaint. VisualDx allows physicians and their clinical support teams to diagnose and treat conditions that they do not see on a daily basis, quickly and accurately, possibly saving time and costs associated with a referral visit to a specialist.�
About The American Academy of Family Physicians
Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents more than 93,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.
Nearly one in four of all office visits are made to general and family physicians. That is 207 million office visits each year – 62 million more than to any other medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide the majority of care for America’s underserved and rural populations.
In the increasingly fragmented world of health care, where many medical specialties limit their practice to a particular organ, disease, age, or sex, family physicians are dedicated to treating the whole person across the full spectrum of ages. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.
About Logical Images
Based in Rochester, NY, Logical Images develops visual health care tools to elevate diagnostic accuracy, enhance medical education, and heighten patient knowledge. Logical Images is a company of digital imaging experts, leaders in computer-based design and knowledge management, skilled image archivists, and practicing physicians. The company’s products include VisualDx, visual clinical decision support software, and VisualDxHealth, online consumer wellness and health care resources. Logical Images has developed the most comprehensive digital medical image library with over 50,000 images including all age ranges and skin types. This extensive collection is the foundation for both the VisualDx professional tool and the VisualDxHealth consumer tool – designed to speed disease recognition for faster, more accurate decision making and patient understanding.
