Diagnostic Imaging Scan - March 18, 2008 - (Page 4) Intelerad. The Canadian company this week announced a major contract with NCH Healthcare System and Naples Diagnostic Imaging Centers in Florida. A system from Philips Healthcare that tracks and then supports the repair of imaging systems onboard 18-wheel mobile coaches cuts repair time by up to 50%, according to the company. The GPS-driven system locates coaches whose routes may have changed, while wireless Internet and cellular voice allow Philips technicians to diagnose and, if possible, fix problems remotely. West Virginia United Health System will buy a dozen z.one ultrasound systems in 2008, according to system developer Zonare. Seven units have already been installed in various clinical settings at WVUHS, including anesthesiology, emergency medicine, and interventional radiology. Imaging provider Alliance Imaging has exchanged $150 million of its 7¼% series B senior subordinated notes, due 2012. PeOPLe John DeLucia has joined iCAD as the vice president of quality assurance and regulatory affairs. DeLucia, a 25-year veteran of regulatory affairs involving the FDA and other such authorities, will report to iCAD president and CEO Ken Ferry. Imaging Dynamics Company has elected M. Thomas Boon to its board of directors. Boon joined IDC in February 2008 as president and CEO, bringing 35 years of experience in strategic and senior management positions at companies such as Agfa and Eastman Kodak. 1895 of the x-ray. For this, Roentgen won the first ever Nobel Prize, awarded in 1901. Next in line, according to AAPM, is MR. Its development was celebrated in 2003 with a Nobel Prize shared by Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield for their clinical application of a phenomenon discovered more than a half-century earlier: magnetic resonance. Felix Bloch and Edward M. Purcell shared the Nobel Prize in 1952 for that discovery. Number three on the list of all-time greatest medical accomplishments is development of the radioimmunoassay. This was celebrated with the award of a Nobel Prize in 1977 to AAPM member Rosalyn Yalow, who came up this sensitive technique for quantifying tiny amounts of biological substances in the body using radioactively labeled materials. Rounding out the medical hits list, coming in at number four, is CT. In 1979, Allan Cormack and Godfrey Hounsfield won the Nobel Prize for developing this modality, which AAPM said revolutionized imaging by providing images with unprecedented clarity. Vendors risk losing relationships and recommendations from facilities if they can’t migrate data effectively. Vendors need to get out in front of this issue. Sales teams must coordinate with engineering and professional services staff to understand the true costs of data migration. Too often vendors assuage the fears of prospective customers with words rather than expertise. That there is a problem becomes apparent when the order gets to engineering: The deliverable is not consistent with customer expectations, and the new generation of RIS/PACS gets a black eye. Vendors need to realize that they can do a much better job when starting the sales process. First, work with engineering and arrange a site visit so they can review workflow. Have professionals monitor the day’s cases from the front desk, evaluating demand for past cases. Sit with the radiologists to determine the kind of information required for daily workflow. Then make an objective assessment of the effort needed to migrate stored data. The sales team should ask the company’s engineers whether all the data can be migrated and, if not, which data will be stuck in limbo so that the customer is not stuck there as well. If the vendor has no experience with a particular legacy system, then the sales team should be honest and set expectations low. In the end, a positive experience with data migrations will help to sell more RIS/PACS in the future. Steven R. Renard is a diagnostic imaging and radiology industry consultant who has nearly 15 years of related experience, primarily in imaging center operations. commentary Data migration: win, lose, or Draw? STEVEn R. REnARD The technology underlying RIS and PACS is advancing rapidly, leading many early adopters to turn in their old systems. While they are happy to leave behind the problems that plagued these not-always-efficient products, they are running into new ones having to do with the migration of patient data. Not all of the 50-plus RIS/PACS vendors are on the same page when it comes to data migration. But they should be. Vendors must be ready to help, or they will put a crimp into the demand for these products. The fact that the industry is still purchasing equipment of any sort while still reeling from the Deficit Reduction Act and further reimbursement cuts in 2008 is a sign of users’ faith in today’s RIS/PACS technologies. Vendors must alleviate customers’ fears of making the transition to a new RIS/PACS by identifying data migration as a core issue in the purchasing decision. In making this decision, price holds little sway if the low-cost product cannot access studies performed two years ago. If data cannot be imported into a format that allows a seamless transition, the new system is a burden, not a blessing. Copyright © 1991-2008 CMP Healthcare Media Group LLC March 18, 2008
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