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Innovative Technology and Service TransformMedical Imaging, Improve Care  By Brian Loflin, Chief Information Officer IASIS Healthcare Franklin, Tenn.  Time for a Change IASIS Healthcare LLC, headquartered in Tennessee, is a 16-hospital system serving six regions across the United States. Like many other healthcare organizations, we had achieved a host of short-term cost and care goals by transitioning from film-based imaging to a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). But as time passed, we wanted to improve performance even more. IASIS was ready to upgrade to a second-generation PACS — one that could keep pace with our advanced medical imaging needs and provide the long-term performance and productivity benefits we were after. Seeking an Innovative Solution Because of our size and widespread service area, we needed a product that would:  Work across multiple care delivery settings Improve flexibility Increase integration Enhance remote Internet access Grow with us as our business evolved Implementation posed the biggest challenge. Ours was a vast and complicated data migration project involving 15 separate hospital databases and 3.5 million studies. Quick transition time was essential to continue operating "business as usual" and holding down costs. We didn't want to support two systems simultaneously. A Quick and Painless Transition We selected McKesson's advanced PACS technology as our answer. Its enterprisewide capabilities and large data-load format perfectly matched our needs. Because IASIS is a long-time McKesson partner with many products in place, the technology integrated seamlessly with our other clinical systems. Above all, McKesson appreciates the mission-critical nature of our business and could provide us with 24/7 support. The transition was quick and relatively painless. In just three months, McKesson built and deployed a highly complex system across our 2,800-bed enterprise, moving data seamlessly and offering round-the-clock assistance and training. Rapid Results Although our new technology is less than a year old, it's generated significant improvements in three key areas: Improved Productivity for Timely Care Superior integration has virtually eliminated delays, and studies are now available almost instantaneously. The technology not only loads cases much faster than before, but also keeps pace with the vast amounts of information generated by today's advanced diagnostic equipment. Physicians can scroll through hundreds of images almost in real time. These improved workflow efficiencies have dramatically reduced turnaround time between report and diagnosis. It is now much easier for our referring physicians to look at images via the physician portal. This secure, Web-based access to a complete view of patients' records is available wherever and whenever they need it: office, bedside or home. Because referring physicians and radiologists can view and discuss images at the same time, they can together make faster, more well-informed decisions for their patients. Better Physician Satisfaction Our new PACS technology keeps us competitive. We've formed stronger alliances with referring physicians who no longer have to search for reports. Instead, they now simply log in to the portal and quickly find everything at their fingertips. Radiologists are pleased with the new technology because it has the quality and functionality they need. They can view images from various perspectives simultaneously, and easily rotate or flip them for better analysis — moving a hand from a "fingers down" to a "fingers up" position, for example. Superior Patient Care Better collaboration and communication among clinicians has improved patient care. With the PACS integrated within the portal, the team now looks at a complete record across the continuum for each patient, rather than a separate radiology report. The new technology is so intelligent, it can mark the exact same spot on all images – a cancer patient's tumor for example – so physicians can compare, in minute detail, those taken today with those taken several months ago. And special labeling features can pinpoint a precise location in the vertebrae, for example, and lock in on that same spot on all other images. Lower Costs Upgrading to a state-of-the-art medical imaging system has eliminated our remaining film costs. Improved productivity and better resource utilization are saving us money as well. Rapid Results Thanks to a seamless transition and superior PACS product, IASIS is accelerating its efforts to better serve our patients with advanced technology. We recently integrated a cardiology imaging system across our enterprise. These new solutions further enhance timely delivery of high quality care. Brian Loflin is Chief Information Officer, IASIS Healthcare, where he oversees IT operations for the company's 16 hospitals and 10,000+ employees, and develops IT strategy for the $2.4 billion healthcare system. Loflin holds a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration from Seton Hall University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from West Carolina University.   |
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