Streamlining Importation of Outside Prior DICOM Studies into an Imaging System

A patient has an imaging study performed at one facility and has the study exported to portable media. Later, the patient takes the media to a different institution. The study on that media may need to be imported into that new institution’s imaging system. This would be done to avoid a repeat examination, or so that the study can be on file for reference purposes. Importing prior studies is best performed by creating a new order on the institution’s imaging system and then associating the DICOM objects from the prior study with it. In this way the prior study is actually inserted into the imaging system’s electronic health record (EHR) and is properly indexed so that it can be identified and later retrieved as needed. In the past at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), importing prior DICOM studies into the VA systems had been a very slow labor-intensive process that took anywhere from 10 to 30 min to import a single study. We have developed a new DICOM Importer application that reduces the manual effort to import a prior study to less than a minute. We have redesigned and automated the process to make it much more efficient for the user. The Importer also handles contract examinations that are ordered by the VA and performed at outside imaging facilities, with similar time savings. This work is important because is addresses one of the major unsolved problems with import reconciliation workflow: how to efficiently handle the importing of prior studies.     

PASS网络系统工作流程的制定及其应用

目的建立PASS系统进行合理用药监测的相关工作流程,使该系统在临床用药医嘱监测中发挥更好的作用。方法通过PASS系统的临床应用发现相关问题,有针对性地制订应用PASS系统的工作流程,并将工作流程实施前后PASS系统使用效果进行对比分析。结果临床药师通过工作流程的制定与实施使PASS系统的应用效果得到明显提升。结论临床药师通过PASS网络系统对各科室临床医嘱审核的药学监护,提高了临床合理用药监测效率,及时避免和减少了药物不良事件/不良反应给患者造成的伤害,促进了临床合理用药水平的提升。     

Use of content management systems to address nursing workflow

Nurses are at the forefront of providing healthcare services to individuals of all age groups and with varying medical conditions. Aside from the critical knowledge and technical skills from nursing science, advancement in technology has assisted nurses in delivering quality nursing care by streamlining workflow processes and ensuring that data can easily be retrieved or modified. Electronic health records dramatically changed the landscape of the healthcare practice by providing an electronic means to store data and for healthcare professionals to retrieve and manipulate health information in a secured and collaborative environment. But with the nature of data being stored in the electronic health records, nurses still need to organize and process these data into relevant information, knowledge or wisdom so they can provide better holistic care to patients. This discussion paper details the role of content management systems in addressing nursing workflow by providing a mechanism for nurses to be developers themselves, and not just users or consumers of health innovative technologies. By using content management systems as platform for application development, nurses or other healthcare professionals, may be able to address problems with internal workflow without having to incur huge amounts in software development, or having to extensively learn programming languages.     

Advanced Medical Imaging Protocol Workflow—A Flexible Electronic Solution to Optimize Process Efficiency, Care Quality and Patient Safety in the National VA Enterprise

Radiologists routinely make decisions with only limited information when assigning protocol instructions for the performance of advanced medical imaging examinations. Opportunity exists to simultaneously improve the safety, quality and efficiency of this workflow through the application of an electronic solution leveraging health system resources to provide concise, tailored information and decision support in real-time. Such a system has been developed using an open source, open standards design for use within the Veterans Health Administration. The Radiology Protocol Tool Recorder (RAPTOR) project identified key process attributes as well as inherent weaknesses of paper processes and electronic emulators of paper processes to guide the development of its optimized electronic solution. The design provides a kernel that can be expanded to create an integrated radiology environment. RAPTOR has implications relevant to the greater health care community, and serves as a case model for modernization of legacy government health information systems.     

办公自动化系统应用于病案管理的探讨

办公自动化是一种新型的数字化办公模式,具有科学、高效、环保的特点,满足医院现代化管理的要求。对于多系统而难兼容的医疗机构,本文探讨应用办公自动化加强病案管理的方法。通过访问权限设置,解决病案统计信息的保密性问题;通过问题的及时反馈,加强与临床沟通,改善病案书写质量;通过疑难特殊病例的实时讨论,提高分类编码准确性;通过示踪管理,提高病案信息使用的安全性,为信息传递和共享提供便捷服务。     

Time changes for scheduled nursing assessments: impact on clinical decisions and patient discharge

Using a shared governance model, a clinical nursing practice change was implemented to increase collaborative decision making among health care providers at morning rounds. The goal of this project was to improve nursing workflow at the beginning of the shift and improve patient flow by discharging patients earlier. By changing the time of morning vital signs and nursing assessments from 0800 to 0600, staff reported increased collaboration among the multidisciplinary team and improved nursing workflow.     

What is the best workflow for an operating room? A simulation study of five scenarios

Parallel induction of anesthesia improves operating room (OR) efficiency. To support decision-making as to optimal facilities and optimal use of resources, we compared the cost-efficiency of several workflow models of parallel induction to that of the traditional model, using discrete-event simulation. For each scenario, average number of procedures performed, surgery time, daily over- and under-utilized time, and staffing costs per operation were assessed. We also studied whether scheduling short and long procedures in separate rooms would amplify the effects of the parallel processing. All parallel work-flow models demonstrated better cost-efficiency than the traditionally sequenced working pattern. Staffing costs per procedure were 7% lower in the best induction model than in the traditional model. When short procedures were scheduled separately, differences between induction models were small. Supported by a Government Grant for Health Care Research, Helsinki, Finland, and the National Technology Agency of Finland, Helsinki, Finland.     

Evaluation of analytical methods and workflow performance of the Architect ci8200 integrated serum/plasma analyzer system

BACKGROUND: The Architect ci8200 is an integrated serum analyzer for photometric, electrochemical and immunological assays. Several assays of each category and the workflow performance of the system were compared with established laboratory procedures in two laboratories. METHODS: Measurements were compared with the ELECSYS 2010 (Roche Diagnostics) for CEA, PSA, FPSA, AFP, folate, vitamin B12, with the CENTAUR (Bayer) for TSH, T4, FT4, FSH and Estradiol, with the LIAISON (DiaSorin) for TSH, FT4 and FT3, with the Behring Nephelometer BN II (Dade-Behring) for ferritin, and with the INTEGRA 800 (Roche Diagnostics), and the AU640 (Olympus) for clinical chemistry assays. Workflow studies were performed to compare times of analysis required for defined analytical workloads. RESULTS: The coefficients of variation (CVs) for within-run imprecision were between 3% and 6% for CEA, PSA, FPSA, AFP and ferritin, and between 3% and 11% for TSH, FT4, FT3, folate and vitamin B12. The CVs for day-to-day imprecision for immunoassays were between 3% and 10%, except for vitamin B12 (CVs 11-13%) and FT4 (CV 10% -13%). For clinical chemistry tests corresponding CVs for within-run imprecision were < 1%, except for HDL, triglyceride, creatinine, ALT, LD and lipase (CVs<2%) and bicarbonate (CV 3%-6%) and magnesium (CV < 3%). The CVs for day-to-day imprecision for clinical chemistry tests were < 1%, except for sodium, CO(2), magnesium, phosphorus, glucose, uric acid, HDL, triglyceride, ALT, AST CK, lipase with CVs < 6% and for CO(2)<11%. Dilutional linearity testing of seven immunoassays and five clinical chemistry analytes resulted in recovery rates of 90-110%. Correlation studies with 15 immunoassays and 25 clinical chemistry tests showed acceptable agreements with established methods. Work flow analyses demonstrated a net gain in time of analysis up to 109 min depending on the size of the sample batch analyzed with the Architect ci8200 as the main analyzer as compared to the currently installed routine laboratory equipment. Median turn-around times were 7 and 30 min for chemistry assays and immunoassays, respectively, when ordered as STAT analyses, and 18 min when chemistry assays were ordered as routine determinations. CONCLUSIONS: Assays on the Architect ci8200 performed well, fulfilling quality control requirements as defined for instance by German quality control guidelines (RiliBAK). Method comparisons showed acceptable agreements with established assays. Workflow studies using the Architect ci8200 documented shorter times of analyses as compared with the conventionally established laboratory routine demonstrating the potential of integrated chemistry/immunoassay analyzers to provide faster and more efficient performance.