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Supporting 11 facilities with 22 board certified radiologists, ARC readsand creates diagnostic reports for more than 300,000 medical imaging exams ayear. The interoperability implementation involved the installation of aspectrum of Compressus' MEDxConnect System components, designed to enableseamless integration of disparate information systems and provide users thefreedom to select best of breed PACS, HIS/RIS, EMS and CIS tools, regardlessof vendor.
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"Physician efficiency and improved diagnostic turnaround is critical notonly to address the growing demand for imaging services, but also to improvepatient safety and outcomes. ARC recently completed the initial implementationof the MEDxConnect Enterprise Systems Integration solution from Compressus,designed to seamlessly connect all of our systems so we can fully leveragephysicians' subspecialty expertise and get the right images to the rightphysician regardless of where they were generated or where across our networkthe physician may be located," according to John Anastos, MD, chairman ofradiology at Advocate Lutheran Hospital and president of ARC.
Phase one of the implementation supported Parkside Imaging, Parkside MR,ARP Buffalo Grove and Oakmill Imaging. Results from the initial implementationinclude:
Reduced Diagnostic Turnaround: use of the MEDxConnect System reduced theturnaround time from when patient scans were acquired to when completedreports were delivered to referring physicians from 18 hours to three -- a600% improvement. Designed to efficiently manage the diagnostic radiologicalservices for clients from multiple referring organizations, the MEDxConnectSystem implementation enables the ability to retrieve and store diagnosticimages on DICOM archives, the ability to manage activities via a patient worklist generated from multiple PACS or network systems, and the ability to routeimages to participating physicians based upon any combination of modality,body part, and/or referring physician. Finally, to maximize productivity andreduce spikes in workload, physicians have the ability to access patients worklists throughout the network.
Improved Access to Patient Information: 70% of all studies now have priorsautomatically pre-fetched without staff involvement. The MEDxConnect solutionenables users to automatically pull all types of patient information,including historical and demographic data, prior reports and images, andphysicians' notes from disparate information and imaging systems, irrespectiveof vendor and distribute it to the appropriate physicians in real-time. Theresult is a robust and cost-effective solution that facilitates improvedefficiency and improved patient care.
Improved Patient Safety: 20% of studies have additional priors and morecomplete patient data as a result of automated pre-fetching. Many of thesestudies may have been overlooked because the information systems did not orcould not associate the data with the patient. Improved access to thisinformation may significantly decrease duplicative or unnecessary exams due toincidentalomas.
The MEDxConnect System acts as a communications hub, enabling variousPACS, HIS, RIS and other data information systems to connect and communicateacross the Enterprise. Utilizing HL7, DICOM, and other standards, the Systemhelps control the flow of images, reports, messages, standard patientdemographics and other impor
