Radiology Experience and Projects
MTC’s knowledge of healthcare systems includes extensive radiology PACS, reporting systems, and Radiology Information Systems (RIS) experience. Every project gets a thorough assessment of the clinical workflows and interfaces within other hospital systems.
Highlighted Radiology Projects
MTC has worked at varying size health care systems ranging from 1 to 4 hospitals as well as multiple outpatient imaging clinics. Within each, needs assessments and workflow analyses were completed first, and a detailed system requirement was developed and presented with desired outcomes in an RFP.
Typically each project involved:
- Assessment of vendor proposals
- Facilitation of the selection
- Site visit arrangements
- Contracting and implementation support
In some cases, system preparation for PACS, DICOM upgrades and interface recommendations for the imaging modalities, and standardized imaging protocols were provided. MTC also offered project management and steering committee chairs as required.
Case Study
Optimizing Radiology Systems
Overview: MTC worked with a system with two hospitals and seven outpatient centers.
Challenge: The CIO described the radiology group as having a “high level of dissatisfaction” with the PACS and the voice recognition dictation system.
Solution: Assessed the situation and found a complex implementation that had undergone multiple upgrades in the last year, with more underway and a staff bogged down with daily issues.
Results: Quickly modeled the implementation, analyzed individual radiologists’ workflows and system interaction, identified specific system and workflow issues, and documented the implementation, problems, and recommendations for improvement.
MTC implemented the critical recommendations.
Meaningful Use Project
MTC provided education to a large radiology group with 16 imaging centers when they needed critical information on new legislation.
The legislation was established to aid healthcare providers in adopting Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems to improve efficiency and care coordination and make it easier for health care information to be shared between providers.
The legislation involved:- The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act 2009 established the Meaningful Use (MU) of hospitals and individual caregivers of an EHR program. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would regulate both hospitals and physicians.
- The HITECH ACT (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act) increased the privacy and security requirements by closing the loopholes in the prior HIPAA act and defined the schedule for incentive payments funded at $30B for healthcare IT. It also set up a penalty schedule for failure to show meaningful use of an EHR with decreases in Medicare fees starting at 1% per year up to a total of 3% to 5% reductions per year.
- The Continuing Extension Act 2010 redefined which medical specialties were required to participate in attesting meaningful use of an EHR in all three stages of the program with escalating requirements over the 3 stage program lasting six years. A significant change was the inclusion of radiologists in the MU program, who had been ineligible.
MTC advised on exceptions and workflow modifications and worked on implementation and testing with the RIS vendor and the radiology group. Documentation standards for audits were established, and assistance in creating the required documentation resulted in a successful attestation of Stage 1 MU.
The radiology group was able to demonstrate meaningful use of their RIS to qualify for the CMS incentive payments and avoid the penalty phase.
Contact MTC today with questions on past projects. Set up a no-obligation, free of charge, 30 minute telephone or zoom consultation for more information on assessing your radiology systems and upcoming projects.
