Spectrum Health’s radiology program is often on the leading edge of innovation, but was recently faced with some technological limitations. The picture archiving and communication system (PACS) used to interpret radiology images was only accessible to radiologists while on-site at a limited number of dedicated workstations.
What if all the stations were occupied? What if the on-site system went down? What if the radiological read and reporting needed to happen sooner – such as overnight – but no one was available on-site to do it?
The unfortunate answer to these questions was delayed imaging turnaround time – the amount of time it takes the radiologist to read a study and return their interpretation to the referring physician – and, in turn, unnecessarily prolonged care.
Seeking to remedy both the limitations of on-site space and on-site staffing availability, Spectrum Health’s radiology and information services teams and external partner Advanced Radiology Services (ARS) began collaborating to find a solution.
“Our initial question was, ‘How do we develop a sustainable system to provide overnight staffing?’” says Todd Mulderink, MD, chairman, radiology. “But also, how do we do so cost-effectively, as new workstations cost tens of thousands of dollars and space is already limited?”
After two years of fine-tuning – and taking cues from a similar initiative at Spectrum Health Lakeland – a solution was implemented in January 2022: distributed radiology, or “DR.” DR provides a remote PACS environment that is fully synchronized with our preexisting environment, thus allowing ARS radiologists to read radiological studies and reports remotely.
“This technology is about getting the right images to the right people at the right time,” says Aaron Dieterman, clinical domain architect, information services. “Not only that, but it helps eliminate human error, leaves doctors in the environments that they're familiar with and just keeps everything rolling the way it’s supposed to.”
“DR allows ARS to utilize their entire network of providers instead of a limited, on-site group,” says John Shull, VP, operations, surgical services, radiology, respiratory and endoscopy. “Referring providers get their results faster which allows them to begin care plans earlier and get patients home sooner. A true win-win!”
Since its implementation five months ago, DR already has produced results. According to Jason Hoult, radiology manager, information services, imaging turnaround time is down 37% compared to October 2021. And according to Todd, some patient groups have experienced a turnaround time reduction of more than 50%.
“We’re seeing patient queues more current than they have ever been, so this has brought tremendous value to the community,” says Todd.
Also benefitting from DR is Spectrum Health’s radiology recruitment efforts.
“We had actually fallen quite a bit behind the national standard for radiological work environments” says Todd. “But now we can offer a blend of on-site and remote reading to niche radiology specialists, so it’s really a game changer for us.”
The success of DR has also allowed its implementation team to look ahead to other new technologies, including artificial intelligence.
“DR is just one piece of our larger scale image strategy program,” says Steven Locke, director, ancillary clinical services and continuing care, information services. “Our goal remains to provide our clinicians with the best tools needed to make the best patient care decisions.”
For more information on DR, contact John Shull.