Rialto breaks down the barriers that prevent clinical information exchange and storage. The Rialto platform provides building blocks that simplify the participation of systems in the network, and allow customization of each Rialto instance to achieve specific goals. The links below outline a few typical ways that Rialto is used to enable collaboration.

• XDS-enable participating systems
• Facilitate direct information exchange
• Establish an ehealth network

XDS-enable participating systems

Rialto harnesses the power of the Integration the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS) Integation Profile to enable image and information sources to communicate with disparate systems, and even with legacy systems. When a PACS or Image Archive publishes images and reports through Rialto, the XDS-based solution specifies metadata about the information, and allows other disparate systems connected within the clinical information exchange network to access the data through search and discovery. Rialto leverages existing investments by establishing a bridge between systems, allowing healthcare professionals to retrieve and contribute to the patient’s lifetime electronic health record through a simple interface for information exchange.

In the diagram below, an instance of Rialto sits on the network to handle all communication requests to and from the PACS. When the PACS participant publishes data through Rialto, Rialto transforms the data to required terminology, patient identifiers and communication standards, thereby creating an XDS-enabled data source. When coupled with Rialto, the PACS also becomes an XDS consumer because PACS users can discover or retrieve data from other participating systems in the clinical exchange network. A product  that provides these typical services is Rialto Connect, a ready-made solution built on the Rialto platform.

Rialto creates an XDS-enabled source or consumer

The diagram below depicts an instance of Rialto coupled with an Image Archive to create an XDS repository and an Image Source accessible to other participants within the clinical exchange network.

Rialto creates an XDS Repository and XDS Image Source

Facilitate direct information exchange

In distributed network environments, Rialto allows publishers to maintain control over published content, while also facilitating information exchange. The diagram below depicts three different participants (an Imaging Centre, a Lab, and a Physician Practice) that are sources of information (publishers). When users publish data into their local system, Rialto identifies and tracks where the data is stored in the network. When other consumers discover and retrieve the data, Rialto forwards the information to the requesting systems in a format that the system can understand. For example, if users at the Imaging Centre want to view a Lab report, Rialto transforms the source HL7 v2 report into HL7 v3 or PDF format so that the user can view the report. A solution that provides these typical services are a combination of Rialto Connect and Rialto Discover, both ready-made solutions built on the Rialto platform.

Rialto can also be used to establish a centralized network with a common data source, depicted in the graphic below. In this case, Rialto acts as an XDS document repository and an XDS Imaging Document source. A product that provides these typical services is Rialto Vault, a ready-made solutions built on the Rialto platform.

Establish an ehealth network

Within a community setting, Rialto creates a participatory clinical information exchange network that integrates the HIS, LIS, RIS, PACS, CRD, EMR, PHR, EHR, and GP participants. Using standards such as DICOM, HL7 and the IHE XDS technical framework, Rialto allows participants to publish information that can be used by other consumers in the network. Rialto facilitates the exchange of images and of text-based test results such as lab results, drug tests, medical summaries, etc. As a result, the GP has immediate access to medical summaries and lab results, and the surgery within the hospital has access to previous diagnostic imaging results, etc. The obvious benefit is to the patient, who can expect a collaborative healthcare experience because all participants along the care pathway have access to the complete patient record.