Extreme Make-Over
Faculty Practice Radiology Tech Center
Our “routine” x-ray rooms utilize digital radiography (DR) technology which provide images of exceptional quality at a fraction of the radiation dose generated by traditional film based radiology. We have additionally installed two new fluoroscopic suites each utilizing digital capture for ultra-low dose high quality fluoroscopic imaging. Our technological makeover is completed by new ultrasound machines that utilize advanced Siemens Sequoia® technology. These units are fitted with a wide variety of probes and color Doppler capabilities.
This machinery has been integrated into a fully implemented Picture Archiving and Communications System, better known as PACS. PACS allows the radiologist to have access to every CT and MR obtained at NYU Medical Center from February 1, 2003 and every plain film study obtained from March 15, 2004. PACS has not only liberated our radiologists from films, but has given our referring physicians the opportunity to receive all patient studies on media such as CD ROM, an attractive alternative for those offices where storage space is at a premium.
Some of our referring physicians have opted to forgo the CD ROM because NYU affiliated referring physicians can access the NYU enterprise wide electronic data repository (EDR) through the NYU Medical Center Onsite Health portal. Access to completed radiology studies from a personal computer is available directly from the PACS archive as displayed on the web browser. Each referring physician can have customized profiles for his/her patient studies.
Under the direction of Joseph Sanger, M.D., Associate Professor of Radiology and Director of Radiology Informatics, and Stuart Sugarman, Chief Information Officer of NYU Medical Center, a series of web-based tools are currently in testing and development stages. Presently, referring physicians can receive an email alert that a report on their patient is available; clicking on the link takes the clinician to a password-protected site where the report can be accessed.
Meeting the Challenge of Service
NYU-FPR is composed of much more than radiologists and equipment. Schedulers match the patient’s clinical need with the availability of the best resource for the patient’s examination; billing and coding specialists ascertain that patients are correctly charged and their insurance claims are submitted and received; front desk receptionists verify that patients’ demographic information as well as their pre-certifications and referrals are in order and that reports are mailed expeditiously; nurses and physician’s assistants assure that patients are appropriately screened for safe administration of intravenous contrast agents; technical staff with an interest in the care of each patient produce the finest images using the least possible radiation; the information technology group builds the subsystems integrating the patient’s progress through the facility from check-in to the completed report. Additionally, we employ a customer relationship team who visit referring physician offices and provide a mechanism for feedback to our management team. All of these individuals must not only be acutely aware of their own responsibilities, they must also rapidly and accurately communicate demographic, diagnostic, and historic information as the patient progresses from the front desk, through the imaging exam to the final generation of the report.
NYU-FPR takes care of over 200 patients a day, therefore critical communications need to occur rapidly and efficiently while being respectful of the privacy and dignity of the patient. The managers meet in a large group monthly to discuss bottlenecks to delivery of service. The spirited discussions at these meetings promote the development of a wider perspective of the needs and frustrations of individual components of NYU-FPR, with the end goal being the seamless integration of all components of clinical service.
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