DUMC puts cardiac images with records
Doctors and staff at Duke University Medical Center (DUMC) in Durham, NC, no longer have to wait for cardiac images to be accessed from other floors, departments, or doctor’s offices, and there will be fewer misplaced films.
In March, the facility’s cardiac cath labs began using new digital imaging that allows them to acquire, store, and retrieve patient images digitally.
By integrating cardiac images with the electronic patient record, physicians and staff can simultaneously view all information concerning a particular patient — images that reveal the extent of heart disease, as well as data including vital test results and patient history. Viewing all this information from a workstation marks a significant advance in the speed of diagnosis and choosing a course of treatment.
In the near future, Duke’s staffers will be able to view patient records and images via PCs at their homes and offices. DUMC performs approximately 8,000 catheterizations each year.
Prior to installing the new system, images were processed and viewed on "cine" film that can cost upward of $60 per procedure. Digitally storing patient studies on disk costs about $10 per study.
For additional information on the manufacturer of DUMC’s new system, Philips Medical Systems, go to the manufacturer’s Web site at www.medical.philips.com.
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