Assurgent Techno

Archive for the ‘Digital Radiology’ Category

Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems are a far superior method of documentation in radiology services than conventional, paper-based systems. Computer-based technologies for radiology reporting offer a number of practical advantages, including:

o Better report turnaround time
o Collects and stores growing volumes of clinical data
o Results can be instantly communicated
o Creates and issues legible, well-organized radiology reports
o Maintains digital images
o Easy to track patient information like records, reports and images
o Electronic exam processes reduces paper waste
o Enhanced diagnostic accuracy due to computer-based decision-support tools
o Protects data against intrusion and loss

All this is accessible through the most comprehensive web-based service for radiology providers available known as Radiology Services Online that offers medical interpretational reporting on radiology examination.

The key features of this online tool include:
Powerful search: A number of powerful search options facilitate the immediate location of a patient’s records by name, date, time slot and more.
Role-based security: Individuals in the practice can be provided varying levels of access security within the system.
Accessibility: Any-time viewing of radiology images on any PC equipped with Internet Explorer.

Additionally, clinical efficiency is improved due to these unique features:
o Once the images (plain film) are uploaded, the film can be destroyed because the images are preserved in the digital record.
o The system hardware (secure servers) is preserved from loss by operating in two data centers that are located in different places
o No more missing reports or x-rays! The records are maintained on a HIPAA compliant server for 7 years after which they are archived to disc.

Flow of Information:
* The technician after conducting the x-ray scan will upload the images directly to the patient record and automatically forward it to the radiologist for reading.
* The radiologist will access the site and provide his or her observations and findings on the patient record which will get converted into a printable electronic report that will be permanently attached to the patient record.
* Once the report is posted (anywhere from 10 minutes to 6 hours after the exposure is made), the facility will have immediate access to the results on-line.

This pioneering radiology study device addresses the distinctive needs of radiology clinics, while simultaneously meeting their office management and billing software needs. It enables technologists, radiologists and administrative staff to improve their productivity by helping them work smarter and more efficiently. Better patient safety and faster turnaround on patient diagnosis can never be compromised. Radiology Services Online effectively addresses the need for rapid image access, timely information sharing and an overall streamlined work flow.

Most commercial printers these days offer both offset printing and digital printing, but which is better and what are the differences that are significant to the print buyer?

In almost all cases, there is a clear and obvious choice which method is best suited for the production of an order, and any professional commercial printing sales representative should be able to know immediately which way to go.

Let me begin by stating that the quality of the print impression is not one of the deciding factors. Before commercial printers had invested in digital equipment they would point out that digital imaging quality was inferior to offset imaging quality, and perhaps there was a time when this was true, but not today. Over the last decade, the technical advancements in digital printing has brought it to the point where even people working in the trade can not tell the difference between a digitally printed sheet or one that was offset printed. The print buyer or average consumer looking at the printed item certainly has no clue which of the two methods was used.

So what are the deciding factors? The first and most significant issue is the quantity of the run. Offset printing requires plates and set up time which is the same whether the print run is one hundred or one million, and there is a fixed cost for that. Digital printing does not require plates or significant set up time and can produce a quality impression from the first output sheet. However, digital printing is slow and there is no economy of scale. The one hundredth sheet or the one thousandth sheet, costs the same as the first sheet. In offset printing the press can run at incredible speed. In some cases the press can print more than 4 sheets a second which is approximately 6 times faster than a digital press, and that’s not taking into consideration the huge difference in the size of the sheet, but we’ll talk about that in another paragraph. Therefore, in offset printing, you amortize the fixed costs of plates and set up into your run (the number of sheets being printed), and the unit cost reduces with every additional sheet being printed. In general, the number of impressions where the two methods cost the same is one thousand. Above that number offset will be more cost-effective, and below that number digital will be less expensive. So the trick here is to determine the required quantity. Usually, if a client needs 5,000 of an item he won’t be ordering 500, and vice versa.

The size of the press sheet is also a main determining factor. At present the largest digital print image is 12in. x 18in., so any item larger than that automatically has to be printed offset. There is one exception. If you are only printing a few copies of a large image, it can be done in large format digital, but at $6.00 a square foot, at around 20 units offset printing will become less expensive. As well, if you want to print (for example) 8 – 8 1/2 x 11 pages, this would fit onto one set of plates of a 40in. offset press and would be more efficient than digital unless, of course, the quantity was very small – under 300. So, as you can see, the decision becomes a function of size and quantity, but an experienced estimator can usually tell at a glance which method would work best.

As a footnote I would like to mention that Fuji is unveiling the first 28in. digital printing press later this month at the Graph Expo in Chicago.

Many small medical clinics, radiology departments, imaging centers, dental and veterinary offices are making the switch to digital imaging.? DICOM Solutions allow you to do this easily and economically.? By using ordinary personal computers, you simply add PACS software, which allows for film imagery to be converted to digital images.? No more high costs for purchasing film, film developing as well as the risk of exposure to toxic developing chemicals when moving to dicom conversion software.

DICOM Solutions stands for digital imaging and communication in medicine solutions.? The beauty of digital imaging is that these pictures can be sent at digital speeds to any doctor, hospital or clinic that has Internet access.? This has revolutionized the transfer of patient images for consultations with the best doctors no matter where in the world they are located, because with the click of a mouse those images can be at the doctor’s computer in a matter of seconds.?

A dicom conversion is possible because of PACS software.? PACS stands for picture archiving and communication system, and is the software that allows for digital imaging of films.? Another nice feature of the dicom conversion is that images can taken in several modalities, including x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, mammograms, ultrasounds and others, and all can be converted to digital images.? Making the change to digital is very cost effective, because you can focus on the specific digital features that your medical office needs, and switch over by retrofitting the radiology equipment you currently possess.?

Many medical clinics switch to DICOM because of the ease of using the dicom archive.? In order to comply with HIPAA standards of patient record retention of seven to ten years, hospitals and clinics in the past have had to use a great deal of space to physically store the paper records.? It also took a lot of hours of work in terms of filing, archiving and retrieval of patient records.? Now with the dicom archive, the physical space you need for storage of patient records is only the size of your server.? Patient information is easily recorded, stored and retrieved from a computer workstation that has the correct software installed.?

The dicom archive also helps clinics to provide better patient care.? Although rare, it did occasionally happen that hard copy patient records were misfiled, leading to unhealthy results for patients.? With the dicom archive, there is a much reduced chance of such errors occurring.?

A dicom conversion is as quick to deal with as it is to install new software on your office computers.? With a dicom conversion, your small medical clinic or office can now affordably compete in the same realm that was once only available to large hospitals who could pay the price.