Health Imaging & IT – Integrating RIS/PACS for the Enterprise - (Page 14)

case study: Blount Memorial Hospital | Maryville, Tenn. by s a r a h l a M b e r t I RIS/PACS Community Hospital for the blount Memorial Hospital is evidence of how to successfully “go live” with PACS using a combination of teamwork, long range planning and extensive training. by choosing GE Centricity RIS-IC/GE Centricity PACS, an integrated RIS/PACS, physicians and technologists at the 304-bed, short-term care facility, found a solution that would streamline workflow processes, reduce costs, increase department and staff efficiency and above all, improve the quality of patient care at the hospital. lount Memorial in Maryville, Tenn., operates 14 facilities that service a five-county area. Each year, the facility performs more than 120,000 imaging procedures. In 2001, Blount faced the same issues as countless other radiology departments—lack of storage, the high cost of fi lm and fi lm storage, and the lack of access for departments to view images from all modalities within the hospital. “We knew there were better, more effi cient ways and like all radiology departments, we had a tremendous amount of fi lm,” says PACS Administrator Mike Headrick, RT. “We knew that with a PACS in place, we would gain a tremendous amount of effi ciency and some additional cost-savings.” The hospital also felt that with PACS, the quality of patient B care would improve. “The ability to compare old fi lms with other modali ties is important,” says Radiologist Art Adams, MD. “Our clinicians also wanted the capability to look at exams remotely so that instead of driving to an ER to look at an exam, they can look at it online and start the appropriate therapy as they are coming to the hospital.” Planning for PaCs The decision to deploy a PACS was a fairly easy choice for Blount Memorial. Choosing the right solution was a little more complicated, and required long-range planning. That planning began about six years ago with the creation of a cross-disciplinary team to evaluate RIS/PACS. “Generally, we have a fi xed method for the selection of soft ware systems at the hospital, and that is to develop a multi-disciplinary team made up of medical staff members,” says CIO John Hanks. For RIS/ PACS selection, the facility put together a team comprised of radiologists, information systems staff, ER staff and others who would be affected by the PACS deployment, Hanks says. “We tried not to leave anyone out, but still tried to keep the group as small as possible, with lots of people coming in and out ad hoc as needed during the process.” Integrating RIS/PACS for the Enterprise November 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT – Integrating RIS/PACS for the Enterprise

Health Imaging & IT – Integrating RIS/PACS for the Enterprise Table of Contents Integrated RIS/PACS: Making Work Flow Singular Benefits: Integrated RIS/PACS Delivers Imaging Center Battle Strategies: Combating DRA Spurring Reading Efficiency in a Large Imaging Center Group Creating the Global Imaging Record RIS/PACS for the Community Hospital What’s the Best? Single Vendor vs. Best of Breed

Health Imaging & IT – Integrating RIS/PACS for the Enterprise

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