AccessNET Raises Patient Throughput Levels at Deborah Heart and Lung

Challenge

To improve care delivery, the radiology department at Deborah Heart and Lung Center sought a solution that would improve the filing system for films and help increase the department's patient throughput.

Solution

After evaluating several vendors, Deborah discovered that Aspyra's AccessNET™ PACS (picture archive and communications systems) solution would address both film management and patient throughput issues.

Results

Deborah reduced the radiology department's average patient throughput time by 85%, going from 20 minutes to 3 minutes. And, switching to a filmless storage system guarantees that patient X-rays will be properly filed.

Deborah Heart and Lung Center is a 161-bed hospital that includes a full-service ambulatory care center within its campus. The organization specializes in diagnosing and treating all forms of cardiac, vascular and pulmonary diseases in adults, as well as congenital and acquired heart defects in neonates and children.

Deborah's transition to a filmless organization started in 2002 when it began evaluating PACS vendors. “At the time, we were challenged with tracking down films,” said May Lunch, Deborah's technical director for radiology. “In addition, transferring films to different locations-when multiple people needed to review them-was frustrating, and it also opened the door for the films to be misfiled.”

Decorah selected Aspyra's AccessNET PACS and had it fully implemented in February 2003. “We talked with many satisfied Aspyra customers during the evaluation period, and those customers really influenced our decision,” said Robert Altin, M.D., a Deborah radiologist. “Plus, the system was easy to use. I especially like the hanging protocols feature.”

AccessNET has reduced the department's average patient throughput time to 3 minutes, from 20 minutes. This was achieved because the system improves workflow to increase efficiency. “The availability of these images hospital-wide is a tremendous benefit to Deborah's health care providers,” explained Lynch. “Instead of being dependent on one copy of an X-ray film, physicians in different areas of the hospital can simultaneously view images on their own computers and consult with other care providers. They don't have to leave patient floors to view images. When necessary, they can access the images from off-campus computers through a secure, password-protected network.”

The “anytime, anywhere” access to the system is accomplished via Deborah's three diagnostic-quality viewing stations and four clinical viewing stations. As soon as a radiologist views the image, annotations can be added and immediately viewed by anyone on the network. Measurements, arrows to indicate abnormalities and preliminary reports for in-house patients are instantly communicated.

“Besides all of its other benefits, physicians at Deborah are enjoying our new capabilities to digitally manipulate images,” said Stephanie Flicker, M.D., chair, Department of Radiology. “From a diagnostic perspective, this technology is beneficial because we can easily manipulate portions of each X-ray image, allowing us to view every part of the image to maximum advantage.”