Competition in today’s healthcare markets is fierce. As consumers become more informed, healthcare organizations re-examine their processes in order to improve efficiencies and to position themselves as world-class organizations. MedCentral Health System, a health organization with two hospitals, 351 beds, and 2,600 employees in Mansfield, OH, USA, is managing this with a system-wide, information technology-(IT-)based initiative, Project Expert Care, geared to provide clinicians with reliable data, to increase patient safety, and to decrease costs by optimizing operational efficiencies.

MedCentral decided on a comprehensive Siemens solution including Soarian^® Clinicals and Financials, syngo^® Suite, a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) and radiology information system (RIS), Patient Identification Check*, NOVIUS Lab*, Med Administration Check (MAK), and Siemens Pharmacy*. By automating entire processes – including the financial system, the patient registration, and medication prescription – the institution achieved astounding improvements. The reporting turnaround time in radiology, for instance, was reduced from 24 hours to only two hours by moving from film to syngo Suite. “Without a doubt, the Siemens PACS made radiology more efficient and drastically improved throughput,” says Brad Peffley, Vice President of Clinical Services. Moreover, the elimination of film resulted in annual savings of about US$450,000.

Patient safety, however, was the primary objective of Project Expert Care. The reliability and promptness of Soarian Clinicals and syngo Suite as well as the Siemens barcoding solutions Patient Identification Check and MAK where key success factors in achieving these goals. With the combined solutions for patient safety, MedCentral was able to eliminate patient identification errors and control medication errors, preventing over 380 potential errors within the first week after implementation. How rewarding the new implementations were is particularly evident in MedCentral’s Cardiology Department. Soarian Cardiology and syngo Dynamics together focus on the clinical and administrative workflows of the cardiovascular care continuum and aide MedCentral in moving from modality-focused to patient-centric care. MedCentral earned a Number One state ranking for its cardiology program by HealthGrades in 2007, 2008, and now also for 2009, and thereby moved ahead of some of the best cardiac treatment centers in the U.S.

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*only available in the U.S.