Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008 - (Page 20)

Image IntegratIon Vendor Neutrality Offers Facilities Flexibility as Well as Cost Savings When legacy eCg management systems vendors decide to upgrade their proprietary product, it often forces users to discard, for example, eCg carts that still have some life left in them. many hospitals today look for vendor-neutral systems that can accommodate the wide range of products that make up one’s information technology system. Like similar products, agfa HealthCare’s HeartStation eCg image management system is vendor-neutral when acquiring eCgs from legacy or existing carts at sites. Consequently, hospitals do not have to replace all carts when upgrading, says neil o’Connell, HeartStation product manager. “Departments can phase out the old carts on their own timeline,” he says. In June, ge Healthcare announced its alliances with leading emr vendors such as mcKesson to “create bridges and enable compatibility.” the company said it wants to offer solutions that are not tied to any single device. “What we’re seeing is that customers want more flexibility in how they purchase their products,” says agfa’s o’Connell. “tying a purchase to an enterprise-wide upgrade is not a good model,” he says. on the patient through the EMR and can render an interpretation more quickly and confidently, Caldwell says. He adds that the comparative analysis of digital ECGs is very powerful. A list of all ECGs can be brought up and displayed in chronological order. Cardiologists can choose one, two or more to be displayed together—any combination that will help them make an accurate assessment. Data in one place The cardiology department of The Washington Hospital in the nation’s capital had to make a decision. It could upgrade its proprietary ECG image management system (MUSE, GE Healthcare) or it could adopt the ECG module of the cardiovascular information system already in place (Horizon Cardiology, From Legacy to Open Standards Unlike cardiovascular information systems, which are essentially contained in cardiology, eCg management systems are used enterprise-wide by residents, fellows, attendings and er physicians, to name a few. “everyone is taught how to read an eCg,” says robert Baumgartner, director of product marketing for the medical Imaging group at mcKesson. one of the biggest challenges, therefore, says Baumgartner, is finding an eCg image management system that works with open standards, such as DICom, that can be easily integrated with other data management systems. Legacy eCg management systems are generally self-contained, meaning they were built as eCg management systems. today’s connected cardiology practices want all of their relevant patient data available in the same window from any workstation. mcKesson, like other vendors, offers this type of integration within cardiology and the hospital-wide enterprise. In mcKesson’s case, they’ve built the eCg management system on top of the same database that supports their cardiology PaCS. Within the same dashboard, one finds all relevant patient data including hemodynamic, cath lab, echocardiography, vital statistics, medications and eCg. McKesson). Kelly Neal, RN, director of cardiovascular services, says it made more sense to keep all of the cardiology information in one place. One of the challenges to managing ECG images is the ECG carts, which can be quite proprietary, Neal says. Her Marquette carts (now GE) would not allow ECGs to be uploaded onto another system. They decided to replace the old carts with new ones from Mortara Instrument, which has a working relationship with McKesson. They could have kept some of the carts, working with a third-party translator, but they chose not to add another technological piece. One of the benefits Neal has realized with her new ECG image management system is a better accounting for ECGs taken in the emergency room. In the old days, the hectic pace of the ER sometimes did not allow timely transmission of the ECG for interpretation. When the cardiology department finally received a batch of ECGs, it had to spend time cross-matching them with the orders. The new carts wirelessly or via modem transmit the ECG to a central repository. Cardiologists can go into the repository, select the patient from the modality worklist and interpret the ECG. The report is electronically signed and distributed to offsite locations, while a hard copy goes on the patient’s chart. Neal reports that the cardiologists like being able to read ECGs remotely, as well as being able to simultaneously look at other reports such as from the cath or echo labs. The cardiologists at The Washington Hospital were already familiar with the look and feel of the McKesson cardiovascular information system, so adapting to the ECG component was not that difficult for them, Neal says. The challenge was educating all other personnel enterprise-wide who read ECGs such as family practice and ER physicians. Neal says the intuitive maneuverability of the system, however, made it less difficult for physicians to adapt. One thing seems clear: hospitals and practices are moving toward total digital integration of all relevant cardiovascular information. In the case of ECGs, it seems to be a natural fit, one that leads to improved workflow, quicker diagnosis and, despite a learning curve, very satisfied physicians. 20 Cardiovascular Business July/august 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008

Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008 Table of Contents First Word Cover Story: Planning for the Ideal Cath Lab Requires the Multidisciplinary Approach Clinical Study Digest: Cell Phone Technology Speeds Ecgs As Real-Time 3d Echo Matures, It Finds a Clinical Niche Ecg Image Management Brings Increased Productivity and Confidence Overcoming Barriers to Cath Lab Inventory Control Maximizing Reimbursement, Minimizing Penalties News & Views Calendar Reader Resources The Back Page

Cardiovascular Business - July/August 2008

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