Cardiology PACS & CVIS: Implementing Digital Strategies - November/December 2008 - (Page 7)

“[With CVIS], we start the day earlier, decrease room turn over time and accommodate additional add-on cases…We cut hours and sometimes days worth of decision-making from the average patient encounter.” Bill Burke, Director of Cardiovascular Medicine, South Shore Hospital from the average patient encounter,” sums burke. The timesavings translates into shorter stays for some patients. Take for example chest pain patients who don’t fall into the highrisk heart attack group. The dedicated chest pain unit that averages 22 hours observation time, a marked improvement over the three-to four-day admissions of the past. burke attributes the improvements to the ability to complete and read stress tests, complete potential cardiac catheterizations and resolve the patients’ problems. other benefits stem from new levels of clinical collaboration enabled by the system. As physicians use the system to collaborate with each other, they make more informed patient care decisions. Finally, digital cardiology workflow makes images immediately available to primary-care physicians, keeping them at the center of the patient care loop and eliminating workflow drains like back-and-forth calls and faxes for patient information. A data powerhouse CVIT serves as a smart data warehouse, resulting in a range of financial and operational improvements. IT arms the department with data, which is used to inform every decision. The system provides real-time data about a host of operational measures from start time to end time to average turnover, helping burke pinpoint inefficiencies. For example, if the system indicates lengthy turnover in the cath lab, the hospital can deploy additional resources like dedicated transport or an additional technologists. “The benefits go beyond operational efficiency, productivity and administrative function to actually solve headaches for clinicians. It’s a win-win-win for patients, families, physicians and employees,” burke says. CVIT also tackles increased accuracy and improved processes on other fronts. For example, the system streamlines cardiac cath lab revenue recovery. Prior to CVIT, nurses and techs took an educated guess approach to charging and billing, checking off CPT codes based on their knowledge of codes. This approach creates two problems. First, nurses aren’t coders, so they might overlook revenue. What’s more, paper tended to wallow in bins before being sent to coders, resulting in a lengthy, fragmented process. The system removes the uncertainties, pulling codes straight from clinical documentation. It eases nurses’ and techs’ workflow and automates the process. Coders verify or rectify codes online before submitting bills. The results are impressive. Since deploying Cardiology DMS and CVPACS, South Shore Hospital captures an additional $45,000 in gross charges per month based on coding correctly. Plus, bills are squeaky clean, minimizing compliance issues. Similarly, CVIT serves as a high-tech inventory management program, tracking supplies by bar code and automatically determining optimal stock. It also informs the department when it needs to order products, helping it adjust inventory to actual use. The department can pinpoint poorly used products and return them to the vendor before expiration. Using and refilling supplies on the basis of actual utilization, coupled with removal of fad products, delivers additional cost-savings, says burke. CVIT also facilitates tracking quality metrics. Traditionally, tracking quality metrics eludes departments because data either don’t exist or exist in multiple systems. Further complicating the process are multiple tracking mechanisms employing different definitions. The system standardizes all data, enabling South Shore to draw out data needed to populate reports. “In terms of American College of Cardiology (ACC) reporting, what used to take four or five hours is now instantaneous,” shares burke. In addition to revenue advantages on the billing, inventory and data management fronts, CVIT yields impressive anecdotal benefits as well. The ability to share images with patients helps them better understand their diagnosis and treatment. Increased physician satisfaction is a soft return on investment, says Furman. “When physicians function more efficiently, they provide better care. both patients and the hospital benefit,” says Furman. The integration model The comprehensive system provides South Shore Hospital with a framework for state-of-the-art, collaborative cardiac care. With immediate online access to images and reports, physicians make more timely and informed decisions, accelerating care and improving workflow. The solution also delivers critical data management tools to help the hospital analyze operations and cut costs. CVIT enables a comprehensive, integrated approach to operations that solves critical clinical, workflow and financial challenges. 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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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