Maximizing Radiologist Productivity

june 2010 supplement to

University of Washington Medical Center
Driving Results in Radiology

One Vision: The Next Step for
Radiology Productivity
Clarus Imaging
Web-based RIS/PACS/Billing
Streamlines Imaging
Center Operations
RadNet
Imaging Center Chain
Pushes Productivity to the Limit

The Next-generation
Image Management Solution

Inside the Digital Dashboard
Rutland Regional Medical Center
Rural Hospital Embraces IT
to Deliver Productive Patient Care
Southwestern Ontario Diagnostic Imaging Network
Access to Imaging Records
Bridges the Geographic Divide

Sponsored by an educational grant from
GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare

Our vision begins
with one desktop.
GE believes in the power of healthcare IT to make a meaningful difference in people’s
lives. For our Centricity* Imaging portfolio, that begins with a big idea: one desktop.

We’re committed to building an imaging portfolio that integrates multiple clinical
applications accessible via an open, web-based approach. Products like Centricity
PACS-IW, Centricity PACS Web Diagnostic (DX) and Centricity RIS-IC already leverage
the power and simplicity of the web, driving new efﬁciencies—and more will follow.

This platform is part of our larger vision for imaging IT:
one desktop, one patient, one community. That vision is how
GE will make a lasting impact on patients’ lives that’s bigger
than IT—and that will make a difference to everyone.

See what we mean at SIIM 2010,
booth #521.

© 2010 General Electric Company *GE, the GE monogram, Centricity
and imagination at work are trademarks of General Electric Company

table of contents
June 2010
The Human Touch
Technology is not a replacement
for the human touch, but rather
a powerful tool to enable better
quality and improve the patient
A supplement to Sponsored by an educational grant from
care experience.
Radiology has long deployed
effective IT tools—RIS, PACS, Webcast On-Demand
voice recognition, 3D, enterprise storage and EMR— Watch it now – Webcasts.HealthImaging.com
but now fiscal, political and demographic pressures are
pushing departments, facilities and imaging centers to
seamlessly integrate these technologies to maximize
productivity and patient outcomes. Other ingredi-
ents key to thriving in 2010 are a proactive technology
vision and vigorous data mining and reporting.
The epicenter is the radiologist who needs the right
information to flow instantly—as one open, unified,
web-based view of the patient that includes images,
relevant priors and current care data. But the whole
operation must work with precision and speed. Order-
02 Case Study: University of Washington Medical Center
ing protocols must be set, scheduling must be efficient,
Driving Results in Radiology
patients need to move through the department quickly,
comfortably and safely, and reports and images must be 04 One Vision: The Next Step for Radiology Productivity
returned to referring physicians as quickly as possible.
Here you will find example after example of radi- 05 Case Study: Clarus Imaging
ology departments and imaging centers whose IT Web-based RIS/PACS/Billing Streamlines
and operational strategies are working harmoni- Imaging Center Operations
ously. They’re tracking key metrics and adjusting to
increase productivity and efficiency. They are dissect- 06 Case Study: Radnet, Inc.
ing workflow, developing new processes and teaching Imaging Center Chain Pushes Productivity to the Limit
employees to assist the department in reaching their-
productivity goals. Measure, learn, modify, succeed. 08 Enterprise Archive 4.0: The Next-generation
True, quality healthcare is high-tech with a
Image Management Solution
human touch.
09 Drilling Down into the Digital Dashboard
Mary C. Tierney,
Editorial Director 10 Case Study: Rutland Regional Medical Center
mtierney@trimedmedia.com Rural Hospital Embraces IT to Deliver Productive
Patient Care
Editorial Office: 235 Promenade St., Suite 455 Providence, RI 02908 12 Case Study: Southwestern Ontario Diagnostic Imaging Network
401 383 5660 | Editor@HealthImaging.com
Copyright ©2010 by TriMed Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in Access to Imaging Records Bridges the Geographic Divide
any form is forbidden without permission. The information, opinions and statements
expressed in the articles and advertisements herein are those of the writer and/or
advertiser. Health Imaging & IT and GE Healthcare make no representation as to the On the cover: Kathleen Fink, MD, an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Washington
accuracy or completeness of the information contained in the articles. GE’s sponsor- and neurologist at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle reads images in the main
ship is not intended to convey endorsement of or affiliation with the authors. radiology reading room.

HealthImaging.com Maximizing Radiologist Productivity: Best Practices & Innovative Strategies  Health Imaging & IT 1

case study: University of Washington Medical Center  Seattle, Washington
by Lisa Fr at t

Kathleen Fink, MD, an assistant professor of
neurology at the University of Washington and
neurologist at the University of Washington
Medical Center in Seattle reads images in the
main radiology reading room.

Driving Results
in Radiology
Improving radiologist productivity is a complex, yet essential endeavor. The impetus stems from
political, fiscal and demographic pressures. “It’s clear we are going to be providing a greater degree of
healthcare to more people. This requires that we not only do a better job, but that we do a bigger
job, at the same time,” says William Shuman, MD, medical director and vice chair of radiology at
University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. “We need to use our facilities in a much smarter
fashion and with much more powerful levers. The major lever in today’s world is technology.”
Compounding the demographic situation is the U.S. clinical land- ounce of efficiency out of its radiology department. Today, this enter-
scape. Physicians must have data at their fingertips to make informed prise that performs about half a million radiology exams a year stands as
decisions quickly and accurately. One of the key pieces of essential a model of productivity. In fact, according to Gene Hoefling, adminis-
data is imaging results. “Our information is critical [in terms of trative director of radiology, five years ago, the radiology department at
informing the diagnosis and initiating therapy]. We have to be ahead University of Washington Medical Center operated at 214 FTEs. This
of the process—not behind it. We need [our systems] to provide pro- spring, the center completed 15 to 20 percent more exams with 10 fewer
ductivity and functionality that enable physicians to take care of FTEs for a total staff of 204. One of the open secrets to the center’s pro-
patients in a very efficient manner,” continues Shuman. ductivity is a strong technology partnership with GE Healthcare.
For years, University of Washington Medical Center has pursued Shuman credits a fair share of the center’s success to Centricity RIS/
optimum productivity. This 450-bed academic medical center, along PACS functionality, with Centricity RIS-IC and Centricity PACS.
with its six affiliate hospitals and clinics and 110 radiologists, effectively “Over the past few years, functionality has doubled or quadrupled its
and strategically deploys technology and processes to squeeze every productivity. But I believe we have another doubling to go.”

2 Health Imaging & IT  Maximizing Radiologist Productivity: Best Practices & Innovative Strategies June 2010

RIS-driven workflow
At University of Washington Medical Center, Centricity RIS-IC serves as
the brains of the radiology department with providers using RIS for every
step of their work right through image review. The department is maxi-
mizing metrics, creating charts and graphs for every business activity and
using them to dissect workflow, develop new processes and teach employ-
ees to help the department reach its productivity goals, says Andy Strick-
land, director of imaging informatics. Centricity RIS-IC serves as a dash- leveraging natural language processing from M*Modal, GE’s partner
board for the department, providing a real-time searchable database that in providing advanced speech understanding technology. A few
tracks everything from patient movement to cash flow to production per months into the deployment, Precision Reporting, which is tightly
modality. “It greatly empowers our ability to manage the business, our integrated with Centricity RIS-IC, has enabled a much more flexible,
productivity and our impact on patients,” says Shuman. efficient reporting model. For example, it pulls data directly from RIS-
The primary goal for the radiology department is simple: get IC to pre-populate templates with contrast used, protocols, clinical
patients into the department quickly, comfortably and safely; image history and more. Customized, templated text for straightforward
them as fast as possible, and return results to the referring physician results such as a normal chest x-ray further boost productivity.
as quickly as possible. Its efforts have paid off with improvements of The major differentiator with Precision Reporting, however, is its
25 percent in report turnaround time thanks to RIS-driven work- flexibility. A radiologist might choose to record his results and send
flow, says Strickland. the exam to medical transcription for editing. In other cases, the radi-
RIS/PACS has delivered a number of improvements at the facility. ologist might interact with the system in self-edit mode, to view and
Radiologists have access to everything they need via the RIS—prior fix and sign the report, Strickland notes. Some providers like to fill in
results, referring provider contact information, medications and the blanks in highly templated reports, while others prefer to speak
order details, says Strickland. Centricity also directs radiologists to naturally, in paragraphs with no templated text.
the studies that need to be read.
Toward maximum productivity
Reading re-design Achieving maximum productivity among radiologists is a constant
University of Washington Medical Center further optimized its tech- process that requires enterprises to juggle multiple inputs. In 2010 and
nology by re-designing its department to support the new, ultra effi- beyond, these include technology and processes. The department
cient workflow. The new decentralized model relocated radiologists must plan each step and analyze its impacts. A robust workflow image
to new reading rooms carefully designed to help them focus on image and information system portfolio the likes of Centricity provides a
interpretation and reporting. Rooms are equipped with flat-panel solid platform that not only provides features and functionality to
displays to show exams direct from the MR and CT operator consoles maximize productivity, but also allows progressive healthcare enter-
across their campus, providing radiologists with the visual data need- prises to dissect processes to further improve productivity.
ed to troubleshoot problems with technologists
during the exam—without leaving their worksta-
tions. Workstations incorporate a third monitor
to display RIS or EMR data and 3D images. Motor-
IT Links Cancer Care Experts
ized desktops and ergonomic chairs minimize Ten years ago, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington Medical
discomfort and help radiologists concentrate on Center and Seattle Children’s Hospital formed the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) to foster
the task at hand. research. Today, it serves as the cancer center of the University of Washington Medical Center
with a major focus on speeding up the transfer of new diagnostic and treatment techniques
The other half of the decentralization equation
from the research setting to patient care. As an image-intense practice, the alliance faces many
is centers of excellence. Consolidating the “sub-
imaging-related challenges.
specialty brain trust” with supporting technolo-
Over the last eight months, Associate Director of Medical Imaging Dean Hobson started
gists, appropriate technology and space optimizes
implementing an adaptive change management process at SCCA. One of his first projects
productivity, Strickland says.
centered on patient access and throughput. He convened a group of technologists, nurses, LPNs,
administrators and front-desk staff to analyze challenges to patient access and throughput in
Peering into a more productive future imaging. “The single most apparent problem was that people didn’t know where the patient was,”
The writing is on the wall. Radiology has not yet recalls Hobson. Not being able to locate the patient impacted productivity, profits and patient care.
reached maximum capacity. One cutting edge Fortunately, the team recognized a fairly straightforward (and economical) solution. Their
solution under the microscope is GE Centricity Centricity RIS-IC provided the functionality to track patients through the imaging process. “We
Precision Reporting. Precision Reporting is a next- found that our patient wait times went from an average of 45 minutes to get on the table to
generation voice recognition solution that better several minutes,” sums Hobson.
adapts to various user needs and clinical situations


by Don Woodlock

One Vision
The Next Step for Radiology Productivity
The radiology IT community has a lot to be proud of. A number of recent
studies have shown that radiologist productivity has nearly doubled, as
measured by RVUs, in the last decade due primarily to the adoption of PACS.
This has been a remarkable accomplishment and is an enduring lesson for the
rest of the healthcare IT community.
However, the trends that demanded that productivity increase will across institutions and medical
persist into the next decade—namely, increased demand for imag- record numbers. Apple iTunes has
ing, increased complexity of imaging studies, decreasing reimburse- single-handedly nearly eliminated
ment per exam, and a shortage or fixed supply of radiologists. So music CDs; it’s certainly time for Don Woodlock, Senior
Vice President and Global
again, we must enable the doubling of radiologist productivity to image exchange and single patient General Manager for Imaging
keep ahead of these trends. But we have already played the PACS jacket type offerings to put an end to Solutions, GE Healthcare
“trick.” How can we double again? the DICOM CD. One Patient also
I believe there are three main areas of initiatives that can enable means full digitization of a patient’s images across a hospital—cer-
this next significant leap in productivity. They are: tainly radiology and cardiology, but soon digital pathology, visible
› One Desktop—Bringing together all of the tools that a radiolo- light images, endoscopy movie files, all stored in a multi-purpose
gist needs into a single, unified desktop. archive and effectively plugged into the hospital’s EMR.
› One Patient—Consolidating and presenting a unified view of And the third area of focus, One Community provides workflow
the patient’s chart – all images, all reports, and relevant clinical tools to bring the healthcare community together. From the
data across organizations and “ologies.” moment a physician even thinks about ordering an exam, the deci-
› One Community—Providing a seamless workflow that brings sion support that informs that order, the scheduling, the protocol-
the community together to serve patients quickly, with the ing, the actual exam, the reporting system that effectively and
highest quality. quickly captures the radiologist’s diagnosis in text and discrete
A vision of One Desktop, One Patient, One Community brings quality data using Natural Language Processing, and the channel-
together the information, workflow, and tools to allow radiologists ing of the report, images, and any discrete results back into the
to continue to practice high-quality healthcare with speed and pre- originating physician’s EMR. Community workflow must bring
cision. IT solutions are the enablers of this vision. radiologists together as well. With sophisticated dynamic work-
One Desktop means that the tools the radiologist needs—RIS, load allocation, radiologists can form a virtual department that
PACS, voice recognition, enterprise storage, 3D and EMR—are can read for many hospitals using sophisticated rules around turn-
seamlessly integrated together. It means that the radiologist isn’t around time commitments, workload mix, specialty and creden-
logging in multiple times, or re-identifying the patient, or dictating tials. And lastly, visual management tools, dashboards and metrics
information the system already knows, or forwarding the images to give managers real-time feedback into their operations as they are
multiple places in the background to get this to work. It also means happening. As equipment, radiologists, work queues and EDs get
that the vendor’s product must be open to enable departments to backed up, decisions can be made on the fly to realign the workflow
plug in applications from other vendors or homegrown applica- to keep patient care expedient and everyone and everything func-
tions, seamlessly into the desktop. And it must be web-based, so tioning at its best.
that this streamlined desktop can be wherever the radiologist hap- The One Desktop, One Patient, One Community vision brings
pens to be—at the hospital, at home, at an imaging center, across together many technologies that already exist, but also many that
town, or across the world. have yet to become mainstream. I am convinced that effectively
One Patient means that the radiologist sees the “whole” patient. It delivering in these areas will give us the doubling again in produc-
may mean a community of hospitals and imaging centers virtually tivity that the radiology community really needs, and is depending
assemble a single patient jacket that consolidates images and reports on, to stay ahead of the constant demands of imaging.


by Gina Narcisi

Clarus Imaging, Houston & Beaumont, Texas

Web-based RIS/PACS/Billing
Streamlines Imaging Center Operations
Clarus Imaging—a small imaging center provider with two sites in Houston and Beaumont, Texas—
needed a more streamlined system for handling its exam scheduling, reporting, billing, and most
importantly, its imaging data. For this group that completes 12,000 exams each year and has
plans in the works to add two more centers, gaining control
of essential data was mission critical.
GE Healthcare’s Centricity RIS/PACS-IW is the solid
solution Clarus chose to become more competitive in
its marketplace, namely by meeting the needs of refer-
ring physicians with quicker report turnaround times
(24 hours vs. 48 hours prior to RIS/PACS), eliminat-
ing the need to outsource billing, billing more effec-
tively and providing radiologists with all previous
imaging studies and reports.
The integration of RIS and PACS was a key dif-
ferentiator in selecting the system, says PACS
Administrator Rebecca Bridwell. The system “provides a
more streamlined process for us from scheduling to registering the
patient to the delivery of reports,” she notes, leveraging the product
as “one-stop shopping for radiologists.” Currently, the clinic has 10
to 15 radiologists who are independently contracted to read exams, radiologist, notes Bridwell. “They no
all of whom are located offsite. This is a large increase from the three longer have to keep up with paper files
radiologists they had prior to PACS. because everything is digital and right there for them,
Referring physicians appreciate the RIS/PACS remote viewing and it’s really improved their workflow.”
capabilities. “They can see the images and reports from the comfort of Clarus is taking full advantage of the billing module, which allows
their office, without the need to contact the facility in the event of a lost them to handle billing internally rather than outsourcing it. The
report,” Bridwell says. And the facility has leveraged this remote access Centricity RIS/PACS-IW, which comes preloaded with CPT codes,
feature as a marketing tool for prospective referring physicians. has helped the imaging center reduce the time required for both cod-
Clarus has attracted quite a few referring physicians due to the ing exams and scrubbing bills by 50 percent. This has clearly resulted
remote capabilities of RIS/PACS, notes Bridwell. In addition to refer- in better cash flow and a more efficient business office.
ring physicians, Clarus employees enjoy the flexibility the solution RIS/PACS-IW is a scalable solution which is key to Clarus’
offers. “The radiologists access and read images remotely [as they are growth plan. The group plans to open a third facility by the end of
located offsite], resulting in a really great working environment for the year. A fourth site is set to open in 2011. With the help of the
them [radiologists],” she explains. “Our turnaround time has really Centricity RIS/PACS-IW, Bridwell predicts that the facilities’
improved because before we were sending our images to the PACS expansion in terms of both clinical capabilities and business oper-
stations at the radiologists’ personal PACS at their homes. Now with a ations will be smooth. “We will be able to expand on what we’ve
web-based system, they are able to access images on the fly any time already installed at our two main facilities, which are working
they have internet access, which has really improved their workflow.” great. I think it will be a pretty easy expansion,” she says. “We were
The radiologists also have been impressed by the convenience of a able to eliminate a lot of extraneous information when we went to
paperless workflow, which makes all outside documentation associ- this system and we can easily move patients around on the sched-
ated with the patient available at their fingertips. Patient documen- ule, which has proven to be an asset as far as time management is
tation is scanned in, as opposed to faxing paperwork to the reading concerned. Everyone is on the same page.”


case study: RadNet, Inc.  Los Angeles, Calif.
By Lisa Fr at t

Imaging Center Chain
Pushes Productivity Peter Vandermeer, MD, a
neuroradiologist at Advanced
Radiology in Baltimore, Md.,

to the Limit
a part of the 188-center
RadNet group, uses GE
Centricity PACS-IW to review
an imaging study.

RadNet, the largest standalone outpatient imaging provider in the U.S., operates 188 imaging centers
across the country with business concentrated in seven states on the East and West Coasts. The company
employs 4,000 team members and almost 400 radiologists. This year, RadNet will complete more than
3.5 million procedures, a business scale that generates massive productivity and service challenges.
Achieving optimum productivity is mission critical at RadNet. They Customized and replicable
strive to make sure information flows at just the right rate so the As a large business with hundreds of imaging centers, RadNet aims to
most precious resource, the radiologist, is not idle for even one sec- duplicate successful processes across operations. At the same time, the
ond. To that end, the business partners with GE Healthcare to deploy, company differentiates itself by offering outstanding quality and ser-
leverage and optimize IT to squeeze every drop of productivity vice. They are a local business operating on a national scale. Juggling
from its technology and staff resources. RadNet pursues its core local needs with proven efficiencies requires a delicate balance. “The
strategy with a razor-sharp focus. “We have established metrics most important and successful strategy is service, service, service.
across the board in all disciplines… [to help us define] repeatable This has taken on a different meaning as we adopt technologies that
processes that give us a good predictable outcome,” explains Exec- allow us to create better service models and achieve a competitive
utive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Eastern Opera- advantage,” explains President and CEO Howard G. Berger, MD.
tions Steve Forthuber. Its dashboards are comprehensive, address- Consequently, RadNet practices replicability with a customer ser-
ing the patient, payor and provider. The end results are impres- vice twist trying to make business as easy as possible for referring
sive. RadNet epitomizes outpatient imaging efficiency, which is physicians. The company mines IT data to enable referring physi-
essential for thriving in today’s market. cians to receive results according to their preferences: in the EMR,


on an iPhone, through a web portal or on film or CD.
RadNet’s approach to radiologists’ workflow is similar. Every ele-
ment of the business is deployed, analyzed and managed to support
image review and reporting and make them as convenient and effi-
cient as possible. The company employs GE Centricity PACS-IW and
Centricity RIS-IC as its image and information management solu-
tion (for PACS and RIS), and has leveraged its customization capa-
bilities to improve radiologist workflow. “We partner with radiolo-
gists and ask them how we can design Centricity PACS-IW to sup-
port maximum workflow,” explains Timothy D. Swingler, Jr., direc-
tor of I.T. Operations, Eastern Operations. The IT group shares stands nears 100 percent. “[Optimum productivity] isn’t as simple as
information about what works in its various markets and focuses on saying here is a RIS package that we are going to acquire; the key part
optimizing systems and processes to meet each local radiology is operationalizing IT with IT and operations working together to
group’s needs. For example, RadNet uses Centricity PACS-IW to define the end results needed [and a roadmap to the results],” says
enhance productivity by delivering cases to local radiologists based Forthuber. At RadNet, this is a minute-by-minute process driven by
on various elements such as specialty, caseload and preferences. a host of dashboards.
In fact, RadNet operates as dashboard superusers. The company devel-
Overcoming challenges ops and implements dashboards for nearly every business process from
Berger identifies the three primary challenges to radiologists’ pro- report turnaround times to image distribution to server monitoring.
ductivity: transcription, image presentation and post-processing. If In the last several years, the company has seen results from its
a practice can implement systems, practices and strategies that commitment to dashboards. One of the early success stories is its call
improve radiologists’ productivity by even 5 percent, he says, it also centers. When the company first measured its call abandonment
can impact the center’s overall profitability. rate, it stood in the high teens and it took over a minute to reach a
On the interpretation side, subspecialization and replicability across person. After measuring the problem, the company worked with
radiologists are somewhat at odds with each other. Images need to be team members to develop and implement best practices. Now the
presented in the configuration that supports maximum productivity call abandonment rate is close to zero, and it takes less than eight
of each radiologist’s skill set and reading preferences. Despite massive seconds to get a person on the phone.
IT infrastructure, and the vast majority of studies accessed at the
proper location, this remains a manual process with an assistant or Integration matters
radiologist pushing and pulling images for a small, yet important per- Another ticket to profitability in the current environment is fully
centage of studies when looking at it through a productivity lens. “It integrated IT. Berger pinpoints a key challenge. “We continue to see
needs to be automated with artificial intelligence that recognizes the too many independent vendors with products that lead to loss of
radiologist at the workstation and presents a worklist customized to productivity for the radiologist, either because they don’t get inte-
his or her needs,” Berger says. This system should push the right stud- grated into the existing PACS or RIS, or require a different solution
ies in the right presentation to the right radiologist across the system. for almost every type of application.” The result is not only decreased
Neuroradiologist Peter Vandermeer, MD, at Advanced Radiology, productivity, but also prohibitive acquisition costs. On the front end,
a RadNet site in Baltimore, identifies a related challenge. “Images information needs to be acquired, distributed and stored seamlessly.
come to you from a single scanner, but the back story [about patient To help address these issues, businesses like RadNet need vendor
history and prior images] may come to you from all sorts of different partners who respond to help them manage integration issues.
locations. Similarly, the information needs to go to a lot of different Director of Clinical Applications Mike Backof uses a multi-
people. A report may be cc’d to six different people.” Ideally, in the pronged approach that includes open source tools, internal develop-
ultra-competitive outpatient imaging center world, each radiologist ment and vendor partnerships. “Combining strategies and partner-
and recipient is presented with exactly the information he or she ing with GE allows us to more tightly integrate disparate systems and
needs, in the format he or she prefers. provide a solution for radiologists and techs,” he says.
A final challenge originates on the post-processing front. The
post-processing world overflows with an array of niche solutions for The continued quest
various applications. Many radiologists require multiple systems for Imaging centers have made tremendous strides in productivity in the
daily work, but can’t log onto PACS to immediately and collectively last decade; however, they have not yet reached their full potential. The
access essential processes or applications. current fiscal and demographic situation demands another leap in pro-
ductivity. The coming leap will resemble the RadNet model and glean
The dashboard impact productivity from multiple sources: well-defined and smoothly deployed
IT is universal among imaging centers. PACS and RIS penetration dashboards, robust integration and strong vendor partnerships.


by michael basset t

Enterprise archive 4.O
The Next-generation Image Management Solution
As healthcare enterprises go through the process of achieving meaningful use,
the term “healthcare interoperability” over the last several years has taken on
more of an urgent tone.
Consequently, GE Healthcare has developed a vision of imaging and
data exchange encompassing solutions and services that facilitate
reporting workflow and the distribution of images and clinical
information across enterprises or even regions. These imaging and
data exchange solutions are designed to seamlessly connect health-
care providers—across enterprises—while at the same time keeping
patients at the center of all services.
Within its new (4.0) version of Centricity Enterprise Archive, GE
Healthcare has taken another step towards providing a standards-based,
non-proprietary solution in support of healthcare interoperability.
Centricity Enterprise Archive is a data-center class IT infrastruc-
ture that provides a single, scalable architecture to maintain image
and report content across departments such as radiology, cardiology,
oncology and those that produce visible light objects, along with
powerful web-based viewer technology to image enable the EMR,
providing a true single point of access to clinicians. archives and displays them in the viewer without data migration.
Consolidating data from different departments into a single reliable › Enterprise Archive: Standards-based, scalable infrastructure
system eliminates islands of information, reduces IT overhead, and facil- stores DICOM and non-DICOM data across departments such as
itates compliance with retention and disaster recovery requirements. radiology and cardiology, providing a single infrastructure for
Within hospital or across regional networks, health information enterprise-wide storage and access.
exchange happens on an IHE XDS/XDSi infrastructure, enhancing › PACS Neutral Archive: Standards-based platform for providing
a decisive step into eHealth, where clinical collaboration is signifi- enterprise-class storage and access as well as integration into an HIE.
cantly improved and information is at the center of care. › Image Lifecycle Management (ILM): This tool is critically impor-
“Enterprise Archive 4.0 simplifies the archiving of “multi-ology” tant to manage the large volumes of DICOM data created over time
images, results and related information, delivering a PACS-neutral, uni- from image generating departments like radiology (CT/MR/CR).
versal repository,” says Don Woodlock, vice president and general man- ILM is based on a set of rules that allows you to move, compress and
ager for imaging solutions, GE Healthcare, who adds that “the unified, delete images when you want them and where you want them. Not
standards-based architecture, combined with support for XDS/XDSi only is it particularly effective at managing the retention policies at
and an intuitive, web-based viewer, helps enable healthcare organiza- your site, but also at migrating your data across different virtual and
tions to realize their visions for healthcare interoperability.” physical archives.
Centricity Enterprise Archive provides a comprehensive technical “Although EA 4.0 is a new release, it’s an evolution of the same
platform tailored to meet the needs of IT professionals and support technology stack that currently supports more than 550 million
the following market uses: exams, representing more than 27 billion images across the globe,”
› Image exchange across multi-vendor DICOM archives: Supports says Woodlock. “Centricity Enterprise Archive is a core component
DICOM, HL7 and IHE XDS/XDSi standards and is an ideal region- of each of our Centricity PACS implementations worldwide, allow-
al archiving solution in a multi-site environment. Integrates with ing for the immediate realization of a PACS-neutral archive and pro-
IHE PIX to resolve multiple patient identifiers. Protects previous viding the foundation to expand to an enterprise archive or health
investment in other vendor’s PACS solutions as EA’s “eBroadview” image exchange without data migration, providing immediate
Query Spanning technology pulls data out of legacy DICOM results towards the goal of healthcare interoperability.”


By Jeff Byers

Drilling Down into the
Digital Dashboard
With radiology departments and imaging centers under
increasing pressure from healthcare reform, regulations and
reimbursement declines, they are challenged to measure per-
formance, assess necessary change and implement it as effi-
ciently as possible. Like the old adage goes, you can’t man-
age what you don’t measure. As radiologists and administra-
tors are driven towards a culture of accountability, digital
dashboards—equipped with business intelligence tools and
data displayed intuitively—will aid economic, administrative,
technological and regulatory endeavors to most effectively
manage workflow and practice operations.

Digital dashboards use data-mining techniques to continuously, auto- able to balance the scheduling using a dashboard to allow for more
matically process and visually display custom-set performance indi- outpatients without negatively affecting inpatients.”
cators that provide operational data for practices, departments or Regardless of how you value your metrics, the greatest benefit to digital
facilities. As imaging operations are being strained to transition from dashboards will be the potential to improve radiology workflow while
a cost center to a profit center, a business analytics tool such as a digital looking at an end-to-end process. Aggregating RIS, PACS and other sys-
dashboard is needed to allow radiologists and administrators to drill tems’ data and funneling them into discernable, digestible metrics, how-
down into their practice to find efficiency and inefficiency. ever defined, will eventually result in improved physician and customer
“We know that our workflow is not perfectly optimized so the ques- satisfaction. “With business analytics, we would be able to manage patients
tion is ‘How do we optimize information based on patients’ needs and faster and know how long they’ve been in the waiting room so we could
care?’” says In Mun, MD, vice president of research and technology at control throughput better leading to happier patients,” says Mun.
Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) North Florida Division in Eliminating the human factor and harnessing the power of a
Tallahassee. “We focus on business analytics because we want infor- dashboard to aggregate data and automate the output allows the
mation that is correct and unbiased to make a decision.” practice to be monitored continuously and evaluated. With continu-
Providing a graphic representation of a practice’s operations, ous data from end-to-end, workflow processes lacking in efficiency
dashboards that provide role-based presentation of mined data allow can be retrofit to perform better before a problem gets ingrained in
clinicians and administrators to understand their practice quickly, the organizational culture.
succinctly and improve operations with faster and more complete “We are looking for ways to improve processes, but we want to use
service to the referring physician. independent information because a human observer is subjective. Sub-
At the end of the day, business intelligence and the use of digital jective information is not always accurate and when we use that info, it’s
dashboards will mean different things to many people with a variety difficult to change workflows,” says Mun. “What is most important for
of goals. Mun sees digital dashboards being customized for the us is to collect information that is accurately reflecting what we do.”
diverse roles in a radiology practice. A technologist could use real- Digital dashboard solutions are not currently widespread, but that
time functionalities to know how long patients are waiting for exams, does not mean that business intelligence benefits are far off.
while radiology directors could benefit from looking at the dash- “As healthcare reforms, government is asking for more and more
board’s trending capabilities—all in real time. data and at some point, you’re not going to be able to do it manually
“In CT [for example], if more inpatients come in the morning, we and the government will wise up and ask for more automated pro-
would know not to schedule outpatients in the morning,” says Mun. cesses,” says Mun. “A digital dashboard will be a crucial piece of
“However, outpatients pay better, so a radiology director would be technology everybody will need to deploy down the road.”


case study: Rutland Regional Medical Center  Rutland, Vermont
by Lisa Fr at t

Emergency room physician Hank
DiMuzio, MD, reviews chest x-rays on
a PACS display at the central nurses
station in the ER at Rutland Regional
Medical Center in Rutland, Vt.

Rural Hospital Embraces IT
to Deliver Productive Patient Care
Rutland Regional Medical Center, in Vermont, is a 188-bed rural hospital that effectively weds high-tech
imaging with patient-centric care. Its radiology department offers comprehensive imaging including CT,
PET, MRI, nuclear medicine, digital mammography and ultrasound and completes 79,000 studies
annually. “We like to say we are high-tech with a hometown touch,” explains Staff Radiologist J.C.
Biebuyck, MD. The center is sandwiched between several tertiary medical centers, but all are at least 70
miles away. It keeps patients close to home, which, in turn, improves the medical center’s bottom line.
This model requires smart use of IT. It’s critical to get information into that prioritizes referring physician communication and patient care.
providers’ hands, says Vice President of Clinical Services Barbara Rob- “Imaging is at the foundation of most medical decision-making, [and]
inson. Rutland Regional identified imaging and information dissemi- radiologists are much more involved with patients,” says Biebuyck.
nation as core competencies and has organized investments and “This has increased our awareness of service to the referring physicians
resources to support efficient distribution. Two years ago, the medical and patients. We need to interact more with physicians and patients.”
center deployed its first PACS—GE Healthcare Centricity PACS com- Interaction, however, is a double-edged sword. Specifically, radi-
bined with a web-based RIS, Centricity RIS-IC. Recently, it added ologists face more interruptions than they did five or 10 years ago. If
Centricity Precision Reporting for automated diagnostic reporting to they aren’t well-managed, these interruptions can slow workflow.
become a filmless, paperless radiology department. The medical center circumvented negative workflow impacts by com-
bining Centricity PACS and Centricity RIS-IC with solid workflow prac-
A new model tices. The end result is a productivity leap despite the increased demands
Rutland Regional Medical Center’s commitment to IT has transformed on radiologists to read more studies, with more images per exam.
its radiology department; the center has developed an efficient workflow To gain efficiency the radiology department beefed up human


resources and increased allied health professionals to four FTEs,
using them to deliver critical results by phone and complete other
ancillary tasks important to patient care. Radiologists also can
instantly QC images for technologists with a simple phone call and
glance up at just-scanned images on the electronic white board on
the reading room wall.
Rutland Regional also leveraged IT to meet its goals. Centricity tient and emergency room patient. As a small community hospital, Rut-
Precision Reporting communicates results to clinicians to improve land Regional relies on one CT and one MR scanner, so efficient use is a
efficiency, communication and patient care. It transmits detailed top priority. The center used Centricity RIS-IC data to determine which
interpretations to the entire clinical team, which helps accelerate processes slowed workflow. After analyzing the data, the hospital set up
clinical decision-making. a staging area to prep patients and organized a direct scanner-to-PACS
In addition, Precision Reporting is fully integrated with RIS/PACS connection to accelerate image review by radiologists.
workflow and provides structured reporting and voice recognition to
streamline the reporting process. Manager of Diagnostic Imaging Infor- The importance of integration
mation Systems Chris Notte explains the process. When a radiologist Integrated IT is the cornerstone of the highly productive radiology
pulls up a study in the RIS, the PACS launches the images and the Preci- department. It eliminates problematic interfaces and uses direct
sion Reporting window opens. Precision Reporting pulls data from the database connections to deliver improved productivity and patient
RIS and automatically places it into the report to save time and prevent care. For example, Precision Reporting and Centricity RIS-IC share
errors. If the result is normal, the radiologist clicks a button and digi- the same database. “It decreased our errors to zero and improved
tally signs the report. The department also created standard report tem- results reporting time,” explains Biebuyck. “It has increased my abil-
plates to minimize dictation time and quickly generate results. ity to look at images rather than worrying about paperwork. It has
Before its IT investments, the department averaged a 24-hour completely decreased my distractions as a radiologist. I feel like I am
report turnaround time. With Precision Reporting, turnaround a better radiologist because of it.”
time stands at six hours for standard exams.
High-tech, high-touch design
Enterprise productivity and service By investing in a tightly integrated Centricity portfolio of systems,
With imaging at the center of medical decision-making, investments in Rutland Regional Medical Center leveraged IT to re-invent its radi-
the department have a positive ripple effect throughout the enterprise. ology department. This rural community hospital offers a progres-
Consider for example the emergency room. Prior to deploying the Cen- sive care environment, efficiently serving patients and physicians to
tricity portfolio, Rutland Regional Medical Center relied on a paper- ensure high-quality care close to home.
driven, wet-read process for stat studies. With Precision Reporting, a
radiologist dictates, edits and signs stat exams within minutes of review-
ing the images. Physicians in the ER receive final reports very quickly
and don’t have to worry that results may differ from the wet read. The
IT: The Clinician Impact
IT-driven process improves clinical efficiency and patient care. Maximizing productivity in the radiology department is a top priority and a
“The faster we can render the interpretation, the better the patient key driver for IT investments. Other clinical stakeholders, however, also realize
is,” notes Biebuyck. Consider the patient who presents to the ER with significant results when a facility commits to leading edge IT. Take for example
a suspected intracranial hemorrhage. As soon as the radiologist Richard Lovett, MD, a radiation oncologist at Rutland Regional Medical Center.
diagnoses the hemorrhage, the center calls a helicopter to transfer The medical center’s investment in GE Healthcare’s Centricity portfolio has
enabled the radiation oncology team to re-invent patient care. Prior to PACS,
the patient to a tertiary hospital.
Lovett says tumor boards entailed shuffling file folders stuffed with films and
crowding around lightboxes. Today, the team projects images from PACS onto a
Pushing productivity
large screen. “It has truly revolutionized the way we manage patients. We look at
Achieving optimum productivity hinges on organized IT resources.
data anew and discuss findings and treatments. It gives the patient the best care
As it deploys new imaging and IT systems, Rutland Regional Medi-
because all of the physicians are looking at data together,” explains Lovett.
cal Center configures solutions to meet workflow needs, and con-
Centricity also helps Lovett better manage critical results. With RIS/PACS, he
tinually monitors metrics to drive additional gains. “Centricity RIS- reviews the images and report and shares results with patients, often minutes
IC, Centricity PACS and Precision Reporting allow us to dive into after a scan is completed, conveniently on rounds with his laptop, instead of
every little component of radiology workflow and understand it to phoning them several days after the radiology study. The new capabilities keep
make improvements,” explains Robinson. patients who might have had to seek treatment elsewhere in the area.
The center tracks metrics such as report turnaround time and scan- The upshot? The rural hospital and its community reap enterprise benefits
ner utilization. Centricity RIS-IC has helped the facility better manage from smart IT investments.
scanner availability among various needs: inpatient, scheduled outpa-


by K aitlyn Dmy terko

Southwestern Ontario Diagnostic Imaging Network

Access to Imaging Records
Bridges the Geographic Divide
To accomplish their goal of an all-expansive, pan-Canadian EHR, the Southwestern Ontario Diagnostic
Imaging Network (SWODIN) is facilitating electronic access to patient records and images in hospitals
and medical facilities throughout the region of Southwestern Ontario.
The 56 hospitals in the geographic area have instant access to patient tals. Because OneView covers an even larger portion of the geography,
imaging records via GE Centricity OneView, a web-based clinical Rankin says that these numbers, although not official, have most likely
information and workflow management engine that connects mul- dipped even lower. Most impressive was the 30 percent boost in radiolo-
tiple facility’s disparate RIS/PACS via a single web-based solution, gist productivity that OneView enabled.
regardless of the originating source of the data. The large database capabilities combined with the integrated services
OneView collects and cross references medical record numbers and of the RIS/PACS makes the consultation process easier and more valu-
corresponding clinical data for a patient, serving as a “single patient able with OneView, and also allows exams to be better tailored to patient
jacket.” These data are used to drive enterprise clinical imaging work- needs. “Some patients move around for one reason or another, some-
flow by providing radiologist worklists, seamless PACS integra- times because they are referred to a particular doctor and some for
tion and report and image management capabilities reasons outside of healthcare. The fact that their imaging
across Southwestern Ontario. Its centralized data studies are available wherever they are and to whoever
repository, which includes approximately 1 mil- needs them is extremely important,” says Rankin.
lion patient records, is shared by radiologists, OneView is just one of the pillars to success at
specialists and referring physicians. LHSC and St. Joseph’s, helping to streamline
Starting as a pilot program linking eight workflow, optimize patient care, provide
facilities, SWODIN now spans 56 hospitals, direct entry to patient records and improve
has 575 active users (and growing) and allows the patient referral system.
the sharing of 60 million patient images Prior to OneView, digital imaging exams
almost instantly across hospitals in the prov- were placed on a CD-ROM or x-ray film and
ince—spanning north to south from Tober- mailed to physicians—a very time-consuming
mory to Windsor. and delaying process, says Richard I. Inculet, MD,
Th

rk

ea
er

wo

t
Using the Enterprise Archive (or centralized ch of Ne chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at LHSC.
S ou
ag in g
archive) for data storage, OneView aids in the stream- thw With the help of OneView, this cumbersome process
e s te r n al Im
O nt a r io D i g it
lining of workflow and expansion of information over a is alleviated, as is the need for repeat patient exams, which has
broad area, thus creating enhanced accessibility. led to a reduction of radiation exposure, wasted time and cost, and
better patient care.
X-ray vision into patient data The solution also allows quick access to relevant priors. “I can
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph’s Health look at an x-ray immediately from a facility that is three hours away
Care in London, two academic providers in Southwestern Ontario by car. This makes things very efficient because I can make a deci-
that together complete nearly 500,000 imaging studies per year, sion that’s appropriate right then and there,” says Inculet.
implemented Centricity OneView three years ago to streamline The expansiveness of OneView decreases patient drive times and
workflow and expand its patient base. waiting room times and can allow physicians to diagnose patients
Because the academic referral base at London is sprawling, one of the more quickly, enhancing patient throughput and yielding better
major advantages of OneView is its ability to allow visibility to patient outcomes. It makes sense for patients, while establishing a cost-sav-
images that have been performed anywhere within the Southwestern ings strategy via wide-area RIS and PACS connectivity without the
Ontario network, says Richard Rankin, MD, a radiologist at LHSC. capital cost of replacing technology.
When the facility first made the switch from a film-and-paper based “This is ideal for a major tertiary center that is responsible for
system to PACS, Rankin says there was a 7 percent drop in the number patient care referrals from multiple community hospitals,” con-
of repeat imaging studies performed at each of the surrounding hospi- cludes Inculet.


GE Healthcare

Our vision revolves
around one patient.
GE believes in the power of healthcare IT to make a meaningful
difference in people’s lives. For our Centricity* Imaging portfolio,
that centers around an important focal point: one patient.

We’re committed to solutions that aggregate a patient’s clinical
information into a single jacket, giving radiologists and clinicians
a more comprehensive view—and a more efﬁcient workﬂow.
Products like Centricity OneView Single Patient Jacket and
Centricity Enterprise Archive 4.0 are already delivering on this
promise—and others will follow.

A one-patient approach is at the heart of our larger vision for
imaging IT: one desktop, one patient, one community. That vision
is how GE will make a lasting impact on patients’ lives that’s
bigger than IT—and that will make a difference to everyone.

booth #521.


GE Healthcare

Our vision creates
one community.
GE believes in the power of healthcare IT to make a meaningful difference in people’s
lives. For our Centricity* Imaging portfolio, that leads toward a bold goal: one community.

We’re committed to connecting local and remote imaging workflow seamlessly to all
clinical stakeholders. This unified community will help radiologists deliver faster, higher
quality imaging results to the desktop, to the EMR and beyond. Such offerings as
Centricity OneView Global Reading and Centricity Enterprise Archive 4.0 are already
fulfilling this promise—and more are on the way.

A single community is the end result of our larger vision for imaging IT: one desktop,
one patient, one community. That vision is how GE will make a lasting impact on
patients’ lives that’s bigger than IT—and that will make a difference to everyone.

booth #521.


Maximizing Radiologist Productivity

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