Cardiology PACS & CVIS: Implementing Digital Strategies - November/December 2008 - (Page 4)

CVIS fUelS InTeGRATeD, enTeRPRISe CARDIoloGY › evaluating CVIS solutions A robust CVIS solution can provide a foundation for improved patient care and streamlined operations. But systems offer uneven capacity and features. Smart departments look for a broad-based solution, making sure the system meets the diverse needs of 21st century cardiac care. nS-lIJ experts weigh in on the decision-making process. Ȃ Don’t overlook usability, says ong. Many physicians at different levels require information from the system. Centricity is very adaptable, meeting the needs of both sophisticated and occasional users, ong notes. reporting, physicians tend to limit the amount of data included in the reports. Ȃ The two most important considerations are speed and the user interface, As they work with the system, the bensays Katz. Reporting common items like Plavix administration should take one efits of adding data such as whether or click, not three steps. It takes longer for physicians to learn to use systems that not the patient is diabetic become aplack an efficient, clinically-driven user interface. parent. As structured reporting skills Ȃ Reporting should be immediate, robust and flexible, says ong. The ability to improve, cardiologists start adding create reports immediately after a procedure helps cardiologists produce more data, which translates into bethigh-quality clinical reports in an efficient manner. Reporting flexibility is another ter patient care and also streamlines important differentiator as interventional cardiology is a rapidly changing future patient encounters. After usspecialty. As procedures change, the system must adapt. ing the system for several years, Green Ȃ Make sure to involve and satisfy the three key stakeholders: cardiac completes reports in less than three administration, cardiology clinicians and IT, says Green. It’s not uncommon minutes. Although the time it takes for sites to overlook IT. Cardiac IT staff needs to assess the system’s storage, him to complete a structured report is hardware and software to ensure that it fits into the global IT capacity. Clinical similar to transcription, the difference and administrative team members need to understand the rationale for and is data. The report contains far more benefits of the system. Wise sites tap into clinical and administrative champions data than a transcribed report. to facilitate the process of educating stakeholders. The North Shore model maximizes reporting efficiency with workstations in cath control rooms. Cardiologists complete reports tems as the short-term archive because the network-attached immediately after every procedure. “It’s extremely useful to servers provide the performance for rapid retrieval. In addigenerate reports within seconds of the procedure because the tion, data are transferred to eMC Centera after acquisition. information is fresh. We don’t forget which stent was used or Centera pulls double duty; it’s a back-up for the short-term procedural details that may help if the patient returns with a archive and serves as the long-term archive. problem,” explains ong. Plus, back-end transcription work— Designing the storage system requires close collaboration besuch as corrections and clarifications—is eliminated. once the tween cardiac imaging and IT. Sites need to understand cardiac cardiologist exits the CVIT, the report is faxed to the referring imaging volume, how long they want to retain data and how physician, and the cardiologist’s work is complete. quickly physicians need to be able to retrieve data and design storAnother common challenge among all cardiology departage infrastructure to meet those needs in the most efficient way ments stems from database reporting. In New York, the state possible, says CIo John bosco. The network presents a similar registry requires 75 field entries for each coronary intervenchallenge. That is, sites need to establish how quickly images need tion. Two years ago, North Shore Hospital completed 4,000 to move from place to place to determine network bandwidth, interventions. “It’s virtually impossible to generate the inforswitches and redundancy needs. (For more on the essentials of mation from transcription logs,” Green says. The system austorage and information infrastructure, see story on page 8.) tomatically captures all required elements in the structured report, automating weeks of administrative work. Cardiology at the crossroads Cardiology has reached a tipping point. The volume of data, including images, has exploded. Managing and making use IT considerations of the data without IT represents a nearly insurmountable CVIS offers cardiology departments an IT tool to improve challenge. robust CVIT solutions offer a new and improved patient care, workflow and other key metrics. Implementing model. Ge’s integrated Cardiology DMS and Centricity a system, however, is a multi-faceted process that requires CVPACS solution provide immediate access to images and data hospitals to analyze, and often, update IT infrastructure, parto better inform and accelerate clinical decisions. Structured ticularly storage and networking. reporting helps cardiologists produce organized, data-filled NS-LIJ uses eMC information infrastructure solutions reports in a matter of minutes. The results are impressive; throughout its data centers with a two-tiered architecture CVIT improves both patient care and workflow. for CVIT. The health system deployed eMC CLAriioN sys- 4 Cardiology PACS & CVIS: Implementing Digital Strategies november/December 2008

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Cardiology PACS & CVIS: Implementing Digital Strategies - November/December 2008 Contents North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System South Shore Hospital The CIO Suite Scottsdale Healthcare

Cardiology PACS & CVIS: Implementing Digital Strategies - November/December 2008

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