At the second annual Molecular Summit on the integration of imaging and diagnostics, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, earlier this year, Aloisio S. Felipe da Silva, MD, Anatomic Pathologist at the Laboratório Fleury in São Paulo, Brazil, provided a case study of Fleury Diagnostics. The most complete diagnostic center in Brazil, Fleury offers more than 2,000 types of diagnostic tests in 37 different medical areas. According to da Silva, Fleury’s integrated diagnostic approach creates the ability to maximize the opportunities generated by having many services and specialists located in a single institution, which improves patient care.

A significant factor that contributes to Fleury’s high standard of care is a comprehensive patient report format. The report is capable of housing several key pieces of information including core information, a summary of medical experts’ discussions, diagnostic conclusions, and treatment recommendations. According to da Silva, fast access to images, fast access to laboratory results, fast communication between specialists, and common software to fully integrate the reports are required resources for timely diagnoses. “The key information is all in one report,” he said. “It allows for communication between specialists, which leads to a synergy of results.”

Celiac disease, a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food, is one example where an integrated approach and a detailed report are critical to an accurate diagnosis. “Clinical data is very important, as is close participation of the gastroenterologist,” explained da Silva. It is not uncommon for the diagnosis to be triggered by an incidental finding during an endoscopy, he said. After the initial finding, a decision-making algorithm is implemented and a report is generated that holds all the test results and relevant information, allowing each member of the healthcare team access to the information.
Fleury’s integrated approach and detailed report format has also played an important role in offering better care for patients with colorectal cancer, herpetic esophagitis, ischemic colitis, and other diseases, noted da Silva.