Further Reading
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Further Reading
Siemens offers a variety of customer magazines and information channels. ’Further Reading’ introduces a selection of articles and topics featured that may be of interest to you. To learn more, follow the link below each article.
Standardized Results While Meeting Individual Needs
West Virginia University Hospitals (WVUH), a group made up of five institutions located in various regions across West Virginia, USA, meticulously evaluated the hospitals’ need for new coagulation instrumentation. The goal of standardizing test results across the health system while meeting the individual needs of each facility pushed this evaluation forward. Based on the diverse sizes of the five facilities, annual laboratory test volumes can be as high as 1.5 million tests per year and as low as 200,000 annual aboratory tests. Because WVUH institutions serve as reference laboratories for most of West Virginia and patients are referred to WVUH for trauma, transplant, oncologic care, neurosurgery, high-risk obstetrics, and numerous other specialties, demand is high. WVUH are also committed to maintaining the highest level of hemostasis expertise and cutting- edge technology in order to deliver high-quality care.
When the decision was presented as to which coagulation instrumentation WVUH should implement, the hospital system chose equipment that would enable it to maintain its high level of hemostasis expertise. As part of that decision, each hospital’s needs were addressed, and they agreed that the equipment needed to be reliable and that vendor service was to be efficient. The hospitals opted for two BCS® XP Coagulation Analyzers from Siemens, based on the reliability of the equipment, the history of prompt attention to needs, and the continued dedication to improvements. WVUH was impressed by the new computer options on the BCS XP System, offering advantages for managing users of the system, tracing, data, and improving security regarding system backups.
The health system reports a smooth implementation and overall satisfaction. Patricia Miller-Canfield, MD, WVUH pathologist, notes, “Choosing hemostasis equipment from Siemens was a wise choice for our system. We have formed a relationship and a partnership that includes high-quality instruments and reagents, rapid and reliable service, and skilled customer support.” A full case study about the implementation can be accessed with the link below.
Coagulation Case Study
SOMATOM Emotion around the Globe
With worldwide sales exceeding 6,700 units, the SOMATOM® Emotion computed tomography (CT) system remains the most popular CT system around the globe1. From the United States over to Europe and to Japan, Siemens’ customers on various continents have shared their success stories. A combination of excellent image quality, leading-edge clinical applications, efficient CT workflow, and a continuing focus on increasing system uptime have helped contribute to SOMATOM Emotion’s success. Siemens CT magazine, SOMATOM Sessions, recently reported on the system’s success by conducting interviews with clinics and hospitals around the world. The result is a series of testimonials highlighting the diverse applications SOMATOM Emotion offers. Pavel Elias, MD, PhD, from the University Hospital Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic noted, “We examine practically the complete noncardiac spectrum of patients on our SOMATOM Emotion 6 – from patients with diffuse lung disease to those with cerebral ischemia.” CT Section Chief YuKang Chang, MD, from the Chie Mei Medical Center, Luiying, Tainan in Taiwan reports similar success: “The system enables us to scan and process patients’ images very fast. For emergency cases at night, we use only this system.” A total of eight success stories can be found using the link below.
SOMATOM
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1 Based on the number of systems sold worldwide.
Anomaly of the bile duct shown with MRI.
3T MRI in Pediatrics: Challenges and Clinical Applications
The primary reason for increasing the magnetic field strength in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is to take advantage of the linear relationship between field strength and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). When increasing the signal that is obtained in MRI, there is improvement in either spatial or temporal resolution – or in both. In pediatric imaging, there are a number of unique challenges that can be overcome with the assistance of improved spatial and/or temporal resolution.
The challenges of high-field MRI remain relevant in the pediatric setting. They involve the altered T1 contrast, artefacts, and safety issues, including specific absorption rate (SAR). These challenges also create opportunities with improvement in angiography, arterial spin labeling (for example, with syngo® ASL), functional MRI, susceptibility-weighted imaging (for example, with syngo SWI), and MR spectroscopy, all of which have distinctive applications in pediatrics. The four main challenges in imaging children are: (1) anatomical challenges, (2) developmental issues, (3) physiological challenges, and (4) behavioral challenges.
In their review, Michael Ditchfield, MD, and his coworkers from The Royal Children’s Hospital in Parkville, Australia, address basic considerations for pediatric 3 Tesla (3T) MR imaging, list the frequent and potential future applications, and discuss the challenges and restrictions in an article published in the Siemens MR magazine MAGNETOM Flash.
MAGNETOM
Janet Dillione
Pioneering the Future of Healthcare IT
Healthcare providers are required to continue building their information technology (IT) strategies around solutions that support patient safety initiatives and create an integrated electronic health record (EHR). Highlighting the ongoing challenges this process involves for hospitals, an article in the June 2009 issue of Healthcare Informatics journal focuses on the US market and questions how healthcare IT vendors can respond to their customers’ requirements. Editor David Raths takes a critical look at the Siemens strategy in developing and implementing Soarian®, the IT platform that integrates clinical, financial, diagnostic, and administrative processes to help clinicians improve efficiency in the management and delivery of healthcare services.
Janet Dillione, CEO of the Health Services business unit at Siemens Healthcare, is standing up to the question, giving a personal and self-reflective insight into her role in a both pioneering and drawn-out project. After all, the Siemens vision of integrating medical imaging and laboratory diagnostics has influenced and reshaped the development of Soarian significantly. Dillione expresses her belief in the future of Soarian as a leading healthcare IT platform, but also admits that some acquisition and product development processes have not gone as quickly as she would have liked. For the future, Dillione regards one important missions of Health Services to be “cognizant of the fact that we’re actually building a larger IT platform so that we’ll be able to play in that future world of personalized medicine.”
Dillione believes that the technology transition from the former Siemens product line, INVISION®, to Soarian has positioned Siemens Healthcare ahead of other healthcare information technology providers. Soarian’s main feature is its capability to automate hospital workflows and help with process redesign to overcome miscommunications and delays. However, the next challenge is to convert the large customer base still on the former platform, INVISION, to Soarian, and in the process, to respond to the customers’ potential skepticism toward new technologies in a supporting way.
Raths also asked renowned healthcare IT research analysts and consultants to give their visions of the future in their markets, assess the potential in Soarian, and estimate the attitudes of healthcare CIOs towards implementing and testing new technology. Please use the link below to read the whole article.
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