PRACTICE MATTERS
by Elaine Sanchez May, 2008 - ImagingEconomics.com
by Elaine Sanchez May, 2008 - ImagingEconomics.com
Four years ago, health care workflow solutions provider MedQ,
of Dallas, changed the entire architecture of its RIS platform to accommodate
more complex ordering information.
Its Q/ris 3000 Reading Services
enables radiologists to create a single, consolidated worklist from a number of
sites, from single modality centers to large hospital networks. Images, both
digital and film, are automatically integrated into a seamless multivendor
system, allowing radiologists to look at a single screen and read for a variety
of imaging facilities.
"What we wanted to do was make it easy for doctors to
take exams from multiple locations," said John Norman, the company's CEO.
For a company like Tennessee-based Mid-South Imaging and
Therapeutics, PA. (MSIT), which operates a sub-specialized teleradiology business,
the Q/ris was exactly the flexible solution the group was seeking to relieve
staffers of time-consuming manual processes.
"As more physicians began placing MRIs, ultrasounds,
and CTs in their own offices, they needed someone to read the images, and they
would contact us,"said Melanie Fite, director of operations and marketing
at MSIT, where she has worked for the past 15 years. "We needed one
location to store all of our radiology reports and a solution that allowed us
to track their progress and reduce turnaround time."
Fite estimates that the teleradiology group reads 5300 exams
a month from 20 different medical groups around the region. MSIT, with its
group of 30 radiologists, provides services to Baptist Memorial Healthcare, in
the metropolitan area of Memphis, Tenn. A computer and Internet access are all
that is required for one of the group's radiologists to access a worklist. The
RSM offers data capture, editing, and electronic scanning, and it allows for
both on-site and remote report creating using either digital dictation or voice
recognition. "With our system, all a physician needs to do is sign on to
the server and start dictating," Norman said. "We can send the
dictation automatically to multiple locations, depending on where the individual
wants it."
Fite said that since there are fewer manual processes, there
is a lot less room for error. Data is captured once, at the source, and then
the information is put into a complete reading package. One of the biggest
benefits of the system, she continued, is that it distributes reports
automatically. Some of the clinics want the reports faxed, Fite explained,
while others prefer them encrypted in e-mail as a PDF. Sometimes, the client
even requests that reports are placed directly into its server. "All of
these processes, which we ourselves performed manually, are now
automatic," Fite said.
The Q/ris 3000 Reading Services Module is available as an
integrated part of the Q/ris 3000 Enterprise Workflow Management System or it
can be purchased as a stand-alone program to support the needs of radiology
reading services. This flexibility was something that MSIT particularly enjoyed
in the intuitive solution. Fite said that the group didn't need an entire RIS
with registration and patient schedule offerings. Essentially, MedQ was willing
to sell them half of its system.
"They were so flexible and accommodating, especially with our customers," Fite said. "They were willing to work with us on a per-clinic basis."
Please contact medQ, Inc. for more information about our Reading Service Module visit our website or call 1-800-597-6330.
Read about Q/ris Reading Services PLUS+ features and benefits!
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