1960 Digital Imaging – A Success Model for the Medical Imaging Industry in the use of digital imaging.
Challenge
How to improve patient care in the Houston area by speeding imaging and diagnosis?
Goal
To improve patient care and to advocate for the patient by reducing wait time for diagnoses.
Solution
Establish a medical imaging center to provide radiology reading services and meet the needs of the market.
In 2003, Dr. Minh C. Nguyen, a board certified radiologist, founded 1960 Digital Imaging in northern Houston to meet the growing needs for imaging and outside radiology reading services for the greater Houston and Texas market.
With the primary goal to improve patient care and to advocate for the patient by reducing wait time for diagnosis, it seemed only natural for 1960 Digital Imaging to stay at the forefront of the medical community with a Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS) to help manage workflow. A thorough review of numerous systems resulted in Dr. Nguyen’s selection of Aspyra’s AccessNET to meet his digital needs. The speed, ability, stability, and record of success seemed to make the decision an easy one. Over 10 years later, 1960 Digital Imaging reads for over 40 facilities, does in excess of 150,000 studies a year, with only 5 radiologists and has vision to continue growing in leaps and bounds. The Aspyra system provides the doctor the option of reading from any location he prefers including, but not limited to, home, office, and clinic - the only requirements are adequate hardware and an internet connection.
Joseph Dilone, 1960 Radiology and PACS Administrator, said “In 2003, the 1960 Center, under the direction of Dr. Nguyen, became the first radiology department to go filmless in all of North Houston, even surpassing local hospitals. 1960 Digital Imaging has always used the Aspyra AccessNET PACS system,” he added, “although an open bid (in-house) testing between two other companies was done in 2006, 1960 voted to keep the Aspyra product.”
Since Dr. Nguyen’s decision to use AccessNET, constant advances in technology, including Voice Transcription, digital mammography, virtual environments, and a host of other advances have occurred. Voice Transcription uses speech recognition software to document entire studies without the need for manual typing. This increases the efficiency of reading, reporting, and sending the study back to the originating facility – keeping with Dr. Nguyen’s original goal: advocating for patients.
1960 Digital Imaging was one of the first facilities to offer Digital Mammography which is easier on patients, again a number one concern of Dr. Nguyen. 1960 Digital Imaging performs and reads outside studies from Cardiology, Mammography, and Bone Density, among others, to provide vital, quick diagnosis for patients with concerns.
1960 Digital Imaging hired service provider Ultimate Medical Services, Inc, a health care technology company with over 100 years of combined experience and an Aspyra Authorized Integrator, to help establish the model that allowed the vision of Dr. Nguyen to become reality. Known simply as “Hub and Spokes”, this model is described as the “Hub” being the centralized location of 1960 Digital Imaging and the “Spokes” being the various facilities creating the patient images of all modalities. Mr. Dilone describes Ultimate Medical Services, Inc., saying “Ultimate Medical Services is able to service our entire enterprise via their local Houston branch. Their dedication and past track record has created a future path of growth and opportunity. As we grow and seek to service multiple facilities, we will continue to use the AccessNET PACS and Ultimate Medical as our preferred turn-key solution in radiology.”