Cost reduction at any cost?

Diagnostic Radiology Consultants (DRC), a private practice radiology group with eleven sites in Chattanooga in the US state of Tennessee, generates and interpret approx. 200,000 cases a year. In the course of the group's 50-plus year history, a very heterogeneous IT landscape was created, promoted, among other things, by the trend toward outpatient management. Although over the past ten years of this development the desired cost advantages were achieved through decentralization, there has been a massive loss of communication between the different IT platforms, and thus, between the healthcare professionals. Lost, obsolete or incorrectly transmitted data were a daily occurrence. Unsatisfactory quality of care due to interface problems – a high price to pay for decentralized structures.

Workflow analysis and system purchase decision at DRC

At DRC, each of the eleven sites had its own IT infrastructure. When traveling from site to site to read images, radiologists had to operate different systems at each location. There were no standards for RIS, PACS and postprocessing systems. Thus, reports created on one system were not always readable on other systems, and transcription systems were not integrated in the RIS. Patient data and reports had to be entered over and over again. The radiologists decided to commission a market analysis with the aim of simplifying their workflows and improving the quality of their work. In this way, the idea of finding a provider that offered an IT solution that integrates RIS, PACS, postprocessing and transcription in one system was born. At the same time, this IT infrastructure had to be compatible with a suitable system for practice management and electronic medical records. During this time, the IT section of DRC – Specialty Networks – was created. Following a market analysis carried out between the fall of 2004 and the summer of 2005, the radiologists decided to acquire the syngo Suite from Siemens Medical Solutions and the NextGen® EPM solution from NextGen Healthcare Information Systems.

Complex projects need team players

The syngo Suite was integrated in phases. As part of the Galen Medical Group, the Galen Imaging outpatient imaging center with its eight locations and a total of 22,000 cases a year was the first to receive the Siemens IT solution. The interfaces with the NextGen EPM solution for practice management and medical records had already been clarified in detail ahead of time by Siemens. The first five locations switched to the new solution and were operating within just five months. Janice Cooke, RIS/PACS manager at Specialty Networks, was very impressed at how fast work was progressing. "I expected this to take a year, now everything is already up and running after only five months." The close cooperation with the customer has been fundamental to success. "Siemens has been extraordinarily committed to us and very supportive," says Dr. Busch, director for informatics at Specialty Networks. Experience and team play made this system integration successful within a short period of time.