VisualDx Launches Next Generation Clinical Decision Support Technology

VisualDx, developer of the world’s most widely installed diagnostic decision support systems, announced the immediate availability of the industry’s next-generation point-of-care technology for healthcare providers and clinicians. The new VisualDx solution introduces proprietary Sympticon visualization technology to help physicians, nurses and clinicians more quickly and accurately diagnose patients.

The new VisualDx offers front line health teams a comprehensive differential diagnosis builder for all general medicine illnesses. The latest technology, originally created for diagnosing dermatology-related conditions, has expanded to include cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, neurologic, renal, urologic, infectious diseases and other areas of medicine.  After nearly three years of development and testing, the new platform doubles the number of potential diagnoses from 1,300 to 2,700, and for the first time, it offers the ability to diagnose by any chief complaint.

The digital technology features the proprietary Sympticon – -a way to rapidly visualize and compare the symptoms of the diagnoses under consideration. The Sympticon highlights which organs are affected by the specific disease or diagnosis.  

“When diagnosing patients, time is critical. The enhanced VisualDx technology–created by physicians for physicians–provides a tool to quickly and accurately diagnose patients,” said Art Papier, M.D., CEO and co-founder of VisualDx. “Combining the world’s largest medical image library with our unique Sympticon visuals offers front line health care providers a comprehensive resource for patient diagnosis.”

In a blinded, controlled study, VisualDx’s product improved diagnostic accuracy by 120 percent compared to utilizing standard textbooks and reference guides. Additionally, 97 percent of physicians believe using the tool improved patient care and helped them save up to 26 minutes of clinical time per day. VisualDx continues to be recognized by healthcare professionals, most recently being named Best in KLAS Category Leader in Clinical Decision Support: Point of Care Reference. This marks the fifth consecutive year VisualDx was honored with the award.

“VisualDx is a useful and powerful tool–a must-have software for all general practitioners,” said Dr. Michel Arnould, a family medicine physician in Villiers-Saint-Georges, France, and a beta tester of the new VisualDx. “VisualDx gives me the information I need at the point of care to avoid misdiagnosis and avoid unnecessary tests and prescriptions. By simply entering a patient’s findings, I can quickly see what other symptoms to look for, what questions to ask, and it quickly guides me to a differential diagnosis right in front of the patient.”

Used in 1,500 hospitals and large clinics throughout the United States, VisualDx is a widely-cited solution to the critical issue of medical misdiagnosis. A 2015 landmark Institute of Medicine report determined that nearly everyone in the United States will experience a diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences. “The number of diagnostic errors in the U.S. medical system is staggering, but there is a way to reduce this growing problem through point of care, visually-centric technology,” said Papier. “The new VisualDx technology allows health care providers to move from memory-based practice to evidence-based decisions to more accurately diagnose patients. Much like a pilot in an airplane cockpit, doctors must have tools that are purposely designed for time sensitive, complex decisions.”

VisualDx combines clinical search with a database of more than 30,000 of the best medical images in the world, plus medical knowledge from experts to help with diagnosis, treatment, self-education, and patient communication. Expanding to provide diagnostic decision support across General Medicine, the new VisualDx brings increased speed and accuracy to the art of diagnosis. The company is based in Rochester, N.Y.