August 20, 2002
University Of Pennsylvania Health
System Adopts Electronic Radiologic Archiving And Communications
System
SIENETT PACS to Electronically Manage Diagnostic Image
Storage and Distribution for Four Hospitals and Eight
Imaging Centers
(MALVERN,
PA) - The University of Pennsylvania Health System
(UPHS) signed an eight-year agreement with Siemens Medical
Solutions for its SIENET picture archiving and communications
system (PACS). The electronic radiology image management
solution will be implemented system-wide in UPHS' four
Philadelphia-area hospitals - The Hospital of the University
of Pennsylvania, Presbyterian Medical Center, Pennsylvania
Hospital, and Phoenixville Hospital - as well as eight
regional imaging centers.
PACS can help hospitals realize significant cost savings
by eliminating the considerable expense of radiology
film development and storage, as well as improve clinical
workflow by making medical images electronically available
anywhere within the health enterprise at the touch of
a button. Last year, UPHS also signed a 10-year agreement
for the remote computing option of the Siemens INVISION®
healthcare information system.
As part of the PACS agreement, UPHS, which is nationally
recognized as a leading academic radiology center and
performs an average 650,000 radiology procedures every
year, will convert its existing electronic images and
the majority of its radiology films to high-resolution,
computer-based images via SIENET PACS. Approximately
20 terabytes of diagnostic image data - equivalent to
1 million radiology
exams -- will be converted, allowing healthcare providers
to electronically read and distribute medical images
on PCs in the physician's office or at radiology workstations,
instead of reading films at a light box.
"With Siemens' SIENET PACS, we expect to improve
clinical workflow in our radiology operations while
reducing expenses. The system will enable us to offer
better service to radiologists and referring physicians
by providing complete patient results in a way we have
never done before. Because the PACS system is worklist-driven,
a radiologist can view patient images and results from
any workstation anywhere in the UPHS system, and referring
physicians can quickly and easily view those images
from their home or office," explained Nick Bryan,
M.D., Ph.D., professor and chairman of the Department
of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical
Center. "Giving our referring physicians such seamless
access to images also benefits our patients by allowing
for faster diagnosis, and eliminating the need for patients
to transport their films from the radiology department
to their primary doctor."
While overall film usage at UPHS will initially be drastically
reduced, several areas of the system will take a gradual
approach to completely eliminating film. Within two
years, UPHS intends to be at just 20 percent of its
current film usage. Siemens will also manage the remaining
conventional film management through an outsourcing
agreement.
"UPHS has been a valued Siemens customer for over
25 years and we are happy to continue our relationship
in yet another area of healthcare technology. By implementing
SIENET PACS system-wide, UPHS will dramatically improve
clinical workflow for their physicians and continue
their long tradition of providing the most cutting-edge,
medically sophisticated care to their patients,"
said Tom McCausland, president and CEO of Siemens Medical
Solutions USA.
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