Epiphany’s Cardio Server offers an option called “Intelligent Serial Comparison.” The option provides comparative statements to the reading physician on changes between the current ECG and the most-recent, previous ECG.

Epiphany’s Intelligent Serial Comparison is designed to work with all cardiographs and with all migrated data. It compares the current ECG’s computer interpretation to the previous ECG’s confirmed physician interpretation. If the most recent previous ECG has not been confirmed by a physician, Intelligent Serial Comparison will use the cardiograph’s interpretation of the previous ECG for comparison. Intelligent Serial Comparison is configurable, and can be set-up based on the preferences of the facility.

Some examples of the configuration options include:

• Facilities can set statements that will appear based on the statement being “no longer present” or “now present.”
  • Example: A physician notices that a patient’s current ECG shows atrial fibrillation and previous ECG showed a sinus rhythm. If the system is configured to show “now present” and “no longer present,” Intelligent Serial Comparison would note in the current ECG, “Atrial Fibrillation now present.” It could also say “Sinus Rhythm no longer present.”
    
    
• Statements can be set to “new only,” which will identify statements only if it is new from the previous ECG.
  • If a facility chooses to set a statement this way, it helps physicians see the major changes from the previous to the next ECG more easily, since only new abnormalities would appear in the serial comparison.
  • If “Left Axis Deviation” is set to “New Only” and it was not present in the previous ECG but is present in the current, the Serial Comparison would read, “Left Axis Deviation is now present.

• Facilities can choose in Intelligent Serial Comparison to set statements to “Always,” which will comment on the phrase whether it is in the previous or the current ECG.
  • “Myocardial Infarction” can be set so that it always produces a statement since it is such a significant event and requires immediate attention.
  • If “Myocardial Infarction” was set this way, the Serial Comparison will either say it is “now present,” “no longer present,” or “still present.”
     

• Also, a facility can set statements to “Standard” so that when a phrase occurs in both the previous tracing and the current tracing, it is not noted.
  • A facility may set statements such as sinus rhythm to “standard” because it is a normal rhythm that does not require immediate treatment and they do not need each consecutive ECG to read “Sinus Rhythm is still present.” If, however, the next ECG shows a different rhythm, Intelligent Serial Comparison will note “Sinus Rhythm no longer present.”

Intelligent Serial Comparison FAQ’s:

• What happens if there are no previous ECGs? Intelligent Serial Comparison will note, “No previous tracing available for comparison.”
• What happens if all phrases between the current and previous are identical? Serial Comparison will note, “No significant changes since previous tracing (Date/Time Stamp).”
• Can Epiphany’s Intelligent Serial Comparison be turned on for some physicians and off for others? No, it is a system-wide setting. If Intelligent Serial Comparison is added to your Cardio Server system it will be applied to all ECGs.
• Can Intelligent Serial Comparison recognize abbreviations? Yes, common abbreviations such as RBBB and LVH can be used by physicians and recognized by Intelligent Serial Comparison.

Intelligent Serial Comparison may be added to your current Cardio Server system at any time. For more information about Cardio Server’s Intelligent Serial Comparison option, contact your sales representative.