Health Imaging & IT - February 2008 - (Page 43)

Virtual Colonography: The Next Stage cian education and marketing. In addition to physician training, a solid virtual colonography program hinges on training all staff involved in the screening program. “Schedulers, techs and nurses need to understand the speciﬁcs of virtual colonoscopy including bowel cleansing and colonic distensions.” In addition, sites can initiate a relationship with referring physicians by providing educational lectures and instructional sheets and collaborative case review. Training is essential, says Kim, but the other component of a quality program centers on the creation of a virtual colonoscopy program rather than the simple addition of another procedure. A sound CT colonography program is akin to a mammography program. That is, one staff person assumes responsibility for patient follow-up and quality of care, so patient follow-up does not fall through the cracks. Speciﬁcally, the practice can generate letters to remind patients to schedule studies at the appropriate interval. Typically, virtual colonography studies are recommended at three-year intervals, as opposed to optical colonography exams that should be conducted every seven to 10 years, according to current guidelines. Quality will be a key factor as virtual colonography hits the radiology mainstream. The ACR is currently piloting benchmark CTC “The potential [virtual colonoscopy market] is huge. In the next 10 years, as many as 50 million Americans may need the exam.” David Kim, MD, assistant professor of abdominal imaging, University of Wisconsin Madison Health System quality metrics which will help track proper techniques, complications and key outcome metrics, says McFarland. Hopefully, these metrics will promote efﬁciency and quality of clinical practice and may, in time, provide a structure for pay for performance. Going forward “CT colonography will have a tremendous public health impact,” states Kim. “Virtual colonography is comparable to optical colonoscopy, and widespread adoption should help reduce the number of colorectal cancer deaths,” adds Graser. The procedure is ready for prime time, and improved reimbursement is in the works. Prerequisites for entering the CT colonography arena include the ubiquitous 16-slice CT scanner, post-processing hardware and software, training for both radiologists and staff and a plan for establishing an ongoing screening/follow-up program. Put the Acuo Grid to work today. Right here. Right now. Free the Archive from PACS. Take control of your content, your storage, and your performance. Invest in owning your data with “Powered by Acuo™”. Visit us at HIMSS Booth #8075. www.acuotech.com 651.730.4110 HealthImaging.com February 2008 | Health Imaging & IT 43 http://www.acuotech.com http://HealthImaging.com

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Health Imaging & IT - February 2008 Contents On the Web The Enterprise News Update Cover Story: Enterprise Image Management Makes the Grade Modality Update Special Section: Health IT: Image Management Special Section: Health IT: PCs on the Move Convention Spotlight Technology Outlook Technology Update Reader's Resource Stat Sheet

Health Imaging & IT - February 2008

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