Health Imaging & IT - December 2008 - (Page 26)

TeChnoLogy oUTLook By Justine Cadet OrthoPACS The Information Backbone of the Orthopedic Clinic Due to growing imaging utilization and the push toward heightened integration between IT systems and imaging modalities, orthopedic clinics are increasingly appreciating the benefits of adopting PACS in their practices. However, communication remains key for the ease of workflow and the minimizing of user complications. Opal-Ortho PACS over the course of a four-day weekend. “The integration from the IT perspective was actually very good with DICOM and HL7 standards,” says Duane Epperson, IT manager at COG. “Viztek has programmers who only focus on interfaces, so the various intricacies of this interface were worked out prior to purchasing the product.” The interfacing with the group’s various modalities—including two DR systems, two CR systems and one MRI unit—also came online over that same four-day weekend, explains Radiology Director Todd Walker. “We were using film on Wednesday, and we opened the new facility on Monday and were up and running PACS. That Monday, we were able to see 300 patients.” PACS integration also is smoothing imaging workflow at Rebound/Northwest Surgical Specialists, a 26-physician group in Vancouver, Wash. PACS interfaces with six digital x-ray systems and one MRI unit, according to CEO David Bennett. A ScImage PicomEnterprise PACS connects three offices, as well as with two local hospitals and an ambulatory surgery center. “Our images originate from the various modalities that can be accessed at any one of these facilities, allowing for a unified workflow,” he notes. IT-enabled To gain PACS workflow efficiency benefits, the magic is in the interfacing of IT and imaging systems. COG struggled with the issue of populating the worklist at the modalities. For instance, as an orthopedic clinic, “we didn’t have the ability to schedule the patient for an [x-ray exam],” Epperson says. “We have physicians who see 45 to 50 patients a day, and there is not always enough time to input that each patient needs a procedure, such an x-ray, into the system. We struggled with how to populate the worklist at the various modalities, so the radiology staff did not have to re-key all that data.” They solved the issue by interfacing with and streaming the data from the patient management system. “When the patient actually arrives, the practice management HealthImaging.com Columbia Orthopedic Group transitioned to their Viztek Opal-Ortho PACS in four days. Smoothing connections With the prospect of opening a new orthopedic facility, Columbia Orthopedic Group (COG) in Columbia, Mo., felt the time was right to invest in PACS. The group, which performs upwards of 45,000 radiography exams and 5,000 MRI exams annually, 26 Health Imaging & IT | December 2008 needed a PACS that would integrate with their practice management and EMR solutions. The administrators at this 26-physician practice spent two-and-a-half years planning for the PACS integration, and when they moved into the new facility in April 2008, they went digital with Viztek’s http://www.HealthImaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT - December 2008

Health Imaging & IT - December 2008 Table of Contents The Enterprise News Update Technology at Work: What You Need to Compete Why 1.5T MRI is Leading the Pack Workflow Strategies Aid Advanced Visualization Deployment Illuminating Reading Room Design for Better Reading Strategies Cardiac SPECT Sharpens its Focus OrthoPACS: The Information Backbone of the Orthopedic Clinic Imaging Tools Reader's Resource

Health Imaging & IT - December 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.