They've got I.T. Goin' On
Robert Moy, PACS Administrator
Many additional special projects developed by RadIT continue to distinguish the NYU Radiology Department from its peers. A recent example is that of NYU faculty providing the sole source of image interpretation services to a privately owned healthcare delivery center in a neighboring borough of New York City. Such interpretive services are provided in an immediate, real-time exchange of images and reports by radiology faculty on the NYU campus. This effort is part of a broader project, “RadWebAccess,” which has facilitated the expansion of the Radiology Department’s private practice business to outlying privately operated imaging centers. Distant healthcare delivery sites may now send cases to NYU Radiology for interpretation, with results rapidly provided via the web. These external providers clearly benefit from the expertise of NYU radiologists, and obviate their need to keep a variety of specialists on staff.
Another interesting special project, headed up by Mr. Kirpekar, involves outsourcing billing capabilities and services to India. The RadIT department serves as the glue between billing teams at NYU and Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad, generating cost benefits and administrative efficiencies that improve departmental workflow more broadly.
WHO THEY ARE: COMING TOGETHER –THE FORMATION OF RADIT
Unbelievable as it may seem today, there was a time, as recently as 1999, when the RadIT group, in a formal sense, did not exist. The story of how Dr. Sanger and Mr. Kirpekar came to work in Radiology I.T. and ultimately manage a group that has become absolutely critical to the operations and evolution of the entire Radiology practice at NYU is of interest both for what it reveals about the profound changes RadIT has undergone as well as the multifaceted perspectives of its key leaders. In a sense, it really began with Dr. Sanger’s long-time passion for computers, a hobby he spent much of his time pursuing before, during, and after medical school. He proudly recalls when TIME magazine sent a reporter over to his apartment to interview him in 1975 as the first person known to have a computer in his apartment — why would anyone want a computer in his home, they wondered? Dr. Sanger graduated from Cornell University with an electrical engineering degree but chose the path of medicine, given his appreciation of the more attractive job market for physicians relative to engineers. Nonetheless, as he is happy to admit, he did not spend as much time in class as perhaps he should have while at the NYU School of Medicine. The reason for shirking some of his duties as a medical student was, as you could probably guess, his continued romance with computers. He spent most of his “spare” time working at a local computer store, the first one of its kind on the East Coast, where his associates affectionately nicknamed him “Doc.” As he recalls, they had never seen anyone put a computer together as fast as him; and that when it was done, it looked like the work of an automated soldering machine. More amazingly, Dr. Sanger never took a formal computer course in his life — some people just have a knack for it.
After his radiology residency, and smack in the middle of his nuclear medicine fellowship, Dr. Sanger found himself running the Nuclear Medicine Section at NYU, beginning a tenure that was to last from 1980 to 1999. During this time, and not surprisingly, he was involved with tasks such as vetting purchases of external computer systems for the Radiology Department and helping members of the department wrestle with various computer issues. It was around 1999 that Dr. Sanger had a thought which proved pivotal in the formation of RadIT. He realized that there was in fact a fundamental need for a dedicated RadIT group with a larger staff and broader mandate, and he, quite rightfully, deemed himself the ideal candidate to run such a group. In early 1999, this plan was enacted; Mr. Kirpekar, along with additional staff, was hired to supplement the three I.T. specialists already on hand.
Mr. Kirpekar comes from an even more unusual background, given that he was studying architectural history as a doctoral student at Columbia University shortly before he came to work in information technology. At Columbia, he managed to combine his passion for mathematics with art history, as his research involved a mathematicsbased methodology to analyze a well-known French cathedral. Unfortunately, his groundbreaking hypothesis, intended as the ultimate subject of his dissertation (and which was later validated), was summarily dismissed by his advisor, leaving Mr. Kirpekar disillusioned and ready to move on from the world of art history. At the age of 30, he began teaching at Columbia, where he received a master’s degree in computer science, and soon after he took a job at IBM in the R&D department. After several years, he helped found the Radiology I.T. department at the Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals, and in 1995 implemented one of the first PACS in the country. After an eye-opening site visit to Beth Israel, the NYU RadIT group made him a job offer and the rest is history.
Most importantly, the new RadIT group was given its own space down in the subbasement of Greenberg Hall (not all things work out perfectly). Dr. Sanger transitioned out of Nuclear Medicine in 2000, and has been directing the RadIT group ever since. Currently, the team consists of the following nine additional staff members, each with his or her own area of specialization:
John Khosrofian – interfaces
Matt Lisowski – departmental web master and presentation/media preparation
Robert Moy – PACS
Quyen Ngo – RIS hardware and operating system
Michelle Oddman – RIS configuration and architecture
Ricki Stern – special projects
Andre Stevens – Talk Technology
Abdul Waheed – installation, repair, and configuration specialist
David Yee – document imaging
IMPACT, STRATEGIC GOALS, FUTURE DIRECTION OF RADIT
Since its formation in 1999, RadIT has had an enormous, multilayered impact on the Radiology Department at NYU. As Dr. Litt commented, “The RadIT group has made major contributions to the efficient operation of the department. They support all of the myriad thirdparty systems needed to provide rapid, accurate diagnostic reports. More importantly, they have developed important web-based systems to track what we do, support our radiologists in their clinical and educational and research efforts, and provide key diagnostic information to our referring physicians.”
The work of RadIT goes beyond merely providing the end-user support and maintenance functions necessary to keep the systems, hardware, and software applications of the department running. RadIT uses its programming and coding skills to create powerful, customized tools and databases that actually enhance efficiency at every level. The unique web portal RadClinInfo is just one shining example. The group’s innovative work on special projects, their ability to design and tailor databases and websites to rapidly meet the changing demands of radiologists and administrators, and their highly specialized level of expertise clearly distinguish NYU RadIT from other groups across the country. Having participated in the creation of the RadIT group at Beth Israel, Mr. Kirpekar can testify to this: “Other RadIT groups don’t do anything like NYU’s group. They do typical things — they run their applications, PACS, RIS, voice recognition systems — and that’s about it.” Dr. Sanger agrees and sees “the main differentiating factor as the work that goes on concerning special projects and how quickly such initiatives are designed and implemented to facilitate greater efficiency.”
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