Cardiology PACS & CVIS: Implementing Digital Strategies - November/December 2008 - (Page 6)

CARDIAC PACS : THe BACKBone of A BURGeonInG CARDIoloGY CenTeR › Critical Support: InformatIon InfraStruCture Planning and maintaining CVIS is a complex undertaking that requires a robust IT infrastructure. The hardware and wireless networks are critical, says Clinical Applications Specialist Stephen feeney. “The hospital requires good speed and sound reliability to ensure that data and images are available at various workstations and on wireless carts.” South Shore Hospital relies on a Cisco systems based gigabit ethernet network utilizing 6500 series switches at the core of the network and 3500 series switches at the edge. The wireless system is a centrally managed Cisco wireless control system using 4,400 controllers and the 1,131 access points. other critical information infrastructure supporting the Ge Healthcare Cardiology DMS and Ge Centricity CVPACS Solutin at South Shore Hospital includes eMC Corporation information infrastructure. When South Shore Hospital installed the cardiovascular information technology solution, it paired the cardiac PACS with eMC Corporation CX700 SAn for primary storage. The hospital ensures redundancy via an eMC ClARiion 3-40 at a second site; every four hours a snapshot copy of the archive is sent to the offsite solution. The latest addition to the hospital’s information infrastructure is a Centera long-term archive. Because the hospital has nearly outgrown its 2.5 terabyte SAn, Centera will provide an essential supplement. Sites planning to deploy cardiac PACS need to address storage issues, says Steve Sudbey, technology engineer, information systems. “Purchase and install the archive upfront. It takes more time and money to add it later,” recommends Sudbey. It’s also important to monitor storage calculations; many sites exceed their initial projections and need to install additional servers to maintain capacity. Constructing an optimal cardiac PACS requires sites to focus on multiple moving pieces including hardware, networks and information infrastructure. Pairing a robust cardiac PACS with a solid storage platform helps ensure operational success. “Storage is like gravity,” opines Sudbey, “without it, nothing works.” solutions form a core cardiovascular information technolgy (CVIT) solution. The center epitomizes efficient, cost-effective, patient-centric cardiac care. based on an integrated IT infrastructure, its program offers a new and dramatically improved model for community-based cardiac care. Integrated IT fuels new business model As it planned its new cardiovascular center, South Shore Hospital embraced the goal of high-quality, community-based care in the most cost-effective, efficient manner possible. CVIT “changed the way we do business. It’s impacted every level of care in terms of productivity, efficiency, operational workflow, clinical workflow, quality outcomes measurement and financial outcomes because everything exists in one database and on one set of servers,” states burke. CVIT weds digital image management with a host of data management tools to optimize cardiac operations. on the PACS side, South Shore Hospital realized immediate workflow improvements when it deployed CVPACS. Prior to that, South Shore Hospital operated a film-based department. Workflow was segmented. Film processing, management and delivery hampered efficiency. “everything was local,” recalls Furman, “We couldn’t provide efficient, optimal patient care because physicians were running around trying to find films. Without access to information, we couldn’t take care of as many patients as we wanted to.” The system helped transform the department into a model of efficiency. Interventional volume has increased by 25 percent, partially due to increased efficiency and productivity. “With the new systems, we start the day earlier, decrease room turn over time and accommodate additional add-on cases,” says burke. equally impressive, staff has not grown accordingly. even the digital cath lab was ripe for improvement. “It was local digital with no deep archiving,” recalls burke. Images were available only in the cardiac cath lab, and the archive consisted of boxes of CDs. eventually, space constraints forced the lab to move CDs offsite, which made it more difficult to retrieve priors. With the new cardiovascular center, the hospital aimed for an “images everywhere” model that allows every provider to access images and reports from a single source. Physicians don’t need to traipse to the cath lab or wait for CDs to view images; instead they log on to any PC in the hospital or in their office to view images and make treatment decisions. “We cut hours and sometimes days worth of decision-making every caregiver, from the technologist inputting data to the nurse on the floor to the cardiologist, is forced to look in multiple places to access patient information. The multi-vendor approach constrains the department, making it dependent on multiple interfaces that fail or omit information. In this scenario, the department cobbles together a hybrid workflow that includes paper systems, dry-erase boards and logbooks. The result is a hectic environment, adding stress and confusion and leading to medical errors. South Shore Hospital opted for a new approach with the Ge Healthcare Cardiology DMS and Ge CVPACS Solutions as the cornerstone of its cardiovascular center. 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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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