Health Imaging & IT - April 2008 - (Page 46)

Implementing IT Solutions: Getting Physicians Onboard seven Western states, uses Agfa HealthCare IMPAX CV cardiovascular image and information management system. For Steve Cameron, program director for St. Peter’s Cardiac and Vascular Center in Albany, N.Y., the implementation of a Lumedx cardiovascular clinical information system required an intensive training effort, including a training disk that walked physicians through the process as well as the installation of flat-panel television screens in reading areas which continuously walked physicians through the login and search process, he says. “We have seen compliance increase dramatically—at Sinai, compliance is at 88 percent and at Northwest it’s 82 percent. The doctors are seeing the power of the system and how it complements our evidence-based medical approach.” Ev amaral, vice president of operations improvement, lifebridge Health in baltimore, Md The preparation process Identifying physician and administrative champions of the automated reporting process early on is vital, says LifeBridge Health’s Amaral. Communicating early and often was also key to the eventual success of the CPOE system. Both LifeBridge and St. Peter’s took time at every physician gathering—from grand rounds to staff meetings—to update physicians on the process and needs of installing and implementing the new systems. “Breakfasts and lunches didn’t work too well in this situation,” says Cameron. “Breakfasts were semi-successful, lunches not really, as physicians tended to leave early either before or in the middle of our presentation.” Sending out training materials in advance of or at actual training sessions helped at both Lifebridge and St. Peter’s to reinforce the message being communicated. St. Peter’s mailed physicians CD-ROMs that demonstrated the process, while LifeBridge mailed letters to each physician detailing the upcoming transition and noting the expectation that doctors would participate in the CPOE system once it was online. LifeBridge gave out CDs to each doctor at the training sessions, which were held in a classroom setting. For doctors who wouldn’t participate in the classroom setting, trainers went out to their offices to get the job done, Amaral says. At St. Peter’s, Darvan Durr, cardiac department systems administrator, did a lot of individual and ad hoc training. It helped, he says, that the physicians were familiar with him in his previous role as an audiovisual and pharmaceutical technologist. At Banner Health, super-users were trained at each facility and given the responsibility of getting any new users up to speed. The results Despite the headaches involved, Pavlicek says the rewards are well worth the effort. 46 Health Imaging & IT | april 2008 At Banner Health, it used to take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to get a patient record into the electronic medical record system. Now, he says, “The physician can walk in, read a study, create the record, electronically sign it, review it and print it out. The staff scans it into the EMR immediately and it is part of the medical record.” At St. Peter’s, the Lumedx system has been rolled out in the catheterization lab and has helped to eliminate all transcriptions related to cardiac caths, saving both time and money. The upgrade to a cardiovascular clinical information system that supports PACS involved a transition to a paperless system, which also generated economic gains. Overall, cardiology volume grew 7.7 percent in 2006 in a competitive environment. For LifeBridge, the carefully thought-out planning and implementation process involved in bringing CPOE to the group’s two hospitals was richly rewarding. “We have seen compliance increase dramatically—at Sinai, compliance is at 88 percent and at Northwest it’s 82 percent,” says Amaral. “The doctors are seeing the power of the system and how it complements our evidence-based medical approach. In practical terms, compliance can’t get much better as some very complex orders will always have to be written out, so I don’t expect it to ever reach 100 percent.” In LifeBridge’s pharmacies, results have been equally dramatic: pharmacist verification times for orders have fallen 90 percent at Northwest and 80 percent at Sinai. Radiology turn-around times have dropped from 71 minutes to 35 minutes at Northwest and from 109 minutes to 77 minutes at Sinai, Amaral notes. It’s just what the doctor ordered. Healthimaging.com http://www.biomorph.com http://www.biomorph.com http://www.biomorph.com http://Healthimaging.com

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Health Imaging & IT - April 2008 Contents On the Web The Enterprise News Update Cracking Down: CT Radiation Dose 3D Rendering: Options Galore Thinking Thin-Client Modality Review Ergonomics & Design Special Section: Storage Strategies Imaging Tools Technology Outlook People & Technology Technology Review IT Trends Reader's Resource Stat Sheet

Health Imaging & IT - April 2008

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