AccessNET Brings PACS Expertise to Brownfield Regional Medical Center

Challenge

Brownfield Regional Medical center (BRMC) in Texas immediately faced new challenges as its sole visiting radiologist from a nearby town could no longer travel to the organization to read images following an incapacitating stroke.

Solution

After evaluating Aspyra's AccessNET™ PACS (picture archive and communications systems) at a nearby facility, BRMC was impressed with the system's capabilities and surprised to discover that the solution could fit within its budget.

Results

Now an entirely filmless facility, BRMC has the flexibility to have its images read by radiologists at virtually any location. Savings of $25,000 per year in film and processing costs will enable BRMC to achieve 100% ROI on its PACS and computed radiography solutions in less than five years.

BRMC's visiting radiologist was reading 650 images per month on average during his one-to-three trips to Brownfield each week. When his services became unavailable in late 2004, BRMC was faced with two choices. The organization could find another visiting radiologist, despite it being difficult to attract a radiologist to visit a rural location. Or, BRMC could move toward a PACS solution.

“In a previous job, I used a PACS solution, and I knew that it would be the right choice for BRMC, but I thought there was no way that we could afford it,” said Ben Meiwes, BRMC's radiology director. “Yet, when we visited a nearby facility using Aspyra's AccessNET PACS solution, I was surprised that the power and functionality we needed actually fit within our budget.”

The organization that Meiwes and his team visited was a local university medical center. “That visit ended up solving two of our challenges. First, it showed us that we could afford a PACS solution. Second, we discovered that once our PACS was installed, we could forward our images and have them read at the medical center,” Meiwes added. “Everybody wants a PACS solution, but smaller and rural hospitals think they can't afford it. PACS pricing isn't the barrier that it once was, so smaller and rural hospitals really need to evaluate PACS purchases as a way to increase efficiency and reduce costs.”

The BRMC board approved the purchase, after Meiwes demonstrated that the combined purchase of PACS and a computed radiography solution could deliver a complete return on investment in less than 4.5 years by eliminating the organization's $25,000 annual cost of film and processing. “It was a dream come true to have the system,” Meiwes said. “As soon as we installed it, it was up and running, and we could immediately connect to UMC and have them read our images.

An enhanced benefit of using AccessNET is that the mobile MRI vehicle that visits BRMC can directly connect to AccessNET to upload images to the system. Patient volume at BRMC has steadily risen due to the increased efficiency of the radiology department as a result of AccessNET, as well as the offering of the MRI services via the mobile imaging unit. The BRMC volume of images soon exceeded the university medical center's capacity, so BRMC had to seek services elsewhere. “In fact, as soon as the word got out that we were using AccessNET, organizations began to approach us and offer their remote reading services to us,” Meiwes said. “Where we once had a problem finding a radiologist to visit our rural location each week, we now have organizations approaching us with competitive bids.”