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Multi-specialty Group Practice Adopts Comprehensive
Digital Workflow
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Here
When Dr. Walter M. Whitaker brought the first EKG machine
to Quincy, Illinois in 1930, little did he know what remarkable
advancements in medicine were to come. Seven years later,
in 1937, Dr. Whitaker, Dr. Orie F. Shulian and Dr. Kent W.
Barber merged their private practices and opened the Quincy
Clinic. This early clinic introduced the innovative concept
of group practice to the tri-state area. The idea of group
medicine has advanced greatly over the last half century but
in 1937 the concept was new. In fact, at the time, less than
one hundred group practices existed in the entire country,
with only two or three in Illinois. The early clinic contained
a complete diagnostic and therapeutic unit and was considered
to be one of the most modern buildings in Quincy.
In 1945, the Physicians & Surgeons Clinic opened its doors
and Quincy, Illinois became one of the Midwest's primary centers
for healthcare. The Physicians & Surgeons Clinic and the Quincy
Clinic merged in 1987, combining their vast resources in staff
and equipment.
In the spring of 1994, a new state-of-the-art medical facility
was opened at 1025 Maine Street and became known as Quincy
Medical Group (QMG). April 2003 saw the grand opening of a
new facility on Hampshire Street, housing various medical
services and offices, with the Surgery Center of Quincy occupying
the top floor. In order to provide quality primary care to
their patients in rural communities, QMG also maintains affiliate
offices in Canton and Lewistown, Missouri; as well as Mount
Sterling, Pittsfield, Pleasant Hill, and Barry, Illinois.
Today, QMG, as it is commonly known, is one of the leading
multi-specialty group practices in the United States. After
nearly 70 years of service to the tri-state area, the clinic
provides the highest quality healthcare services available
to more than 300,000 people within a 75-mile radius.
With nearly 100 physicians, physician's assistants and nurse
practitioners, this physician owned group covers 24 medical
and surgical specialties. Among these specialties are cardiology,
radiology, general surgery, vascular procedures, orthopedics,
neurosurgery, ear, nose & throat and obstetrics/gynecology.
"ScImage's
complete workflow management solution for multiple departments
provides the right kinds of clinical productivity tools
for our health care providers."
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The Need for a Digital Workflow
Because of QMG's dedication to quality patient care, the group
has always looked to the future. The group felt that in order
to continue their success, they needed a long-term plan for
a complete digital workflow. Adopting an entirely digital
workflow would be a multi-faceted project that would tie together
several systems. This included their practice management system
(PMS) and electronic medical record software (EMR). The group
agreed that making the imaging exams performed at the clinic
available through the EMR would enable a more efficient workflow.
QMG also needed a radiology information system to manage the
imaging workflow and began evaluating several vendors-some
large, some small.
Based on previous experience with a digital workflow, Ms.
Williamson knew QMG needed a complete solution that would
address their unique and complex workflow, help attract and
retain a strong referring physician base and assist QMG administrators
in making sound future business decisions. She and the committee
also knew that none of this mattered if the solution they
selected would not allow them to stay true to the group's
mission of providing the highest quality health services by
people who care.
Any solution they chose needed to make all of the patient's
information available to the physicians when and where they
needed it as seamlessly as possible. This solution also needed
to be responsive, flexible and customizable so there would
be little or no disruption to the clinic's busy workflow. |
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A Unified Multi-Specialty
Workflow Solution
After careful consideration, the committee and Ms. Williamson
selected ScImage for RIS, PACS, ECG Management,
Quincy Medical Group — Quincy, IL
Orthopedic workflow, long-term storage, archiving and telemedicine.
"The decision was easy. Our experience with ScImage, who was
already providing image management, long-term archive and
telemedicine for our CT and MRI exams, had been positive.
When we learned of their complete workflow management solution
for multiple departments and that they could provide the right
kinds of clinical productivity tools for our health care providers,
we knew we had found our vendor," stated Ms. Williamson.
The solution that ScImage created for QMG enables a comprehensive
digital workflow. ScImage's radiology information system,
PicomRIS, will allow each of the affiliate locations to schedule
imaging exams for their patients. Worklist integration with
the variety of modalities used in the practice will speed
the turn-around between patient registration and exam completion.
The technologists performing the exams will also benefit from
ScImage's web-based conflict resolution and post-acquisition
order resolution-making it easier than ever to make corrections
to exam data from anywhere within the clinic. The RIS will
also provide digital dictation for the reading physicians,
as well as web-based transcription tools. Automated billing
services will enable faster turnaround for reimbursements
and the administrators will be able to track and manage the
overall workflow using the sophisticated management reporting
tools included with PicomRIS.
On the backend, ScImage's multi-departmental PACS solution,
PicomEnterprise, will launch exam images, data and reports
within QMG's existing electronic medical record software.
This includes all of the traditional imaging modalities, as
well as ECG. Physicians will be able to access information
stored in PicomEnterprise's Electronic Patient Folders (EPF).
The EPF concept allows ScImage to gather all relevant clinical
and non-clinical objects (images, reports, wave files, waveforms,
scanned documents, etc.) under a unique patient identification
number. This number will be tied to the existing EMR giving
QMG providers access to the data when and where they need
it.
Ms. Williamson and the IT Steering Committee also wanted to
ensure that any solution they chose would address the needs
of their referring physicians. They understood that the needs
of these very important customers required that they be able
to schedule patient exams and review exam data with patients
during their follow-up visits. Since QMG had been using ScImage's
offsite disaster recovery and telemedicine solution, PicomOnline,
for more than two years, it was clear that this active data
center could improve information exchange with their referring
physicians. "In speaking with several physicians in Quincy
and our affiliate locations, we knew that these folks needed
to be able to access their patient's information from not
only the office, but from home and hospital too. We also knew
that administering this kind of access could prove to be challenging
and time consuming. ScImage's solution makes that very easy
for us. Having a disaster recovery solution that satisfied
our business continuity goals while giving our referring doctors
secure access to their data just made sense," stated Ms. Williamson.
One of QMG's internal medicine practitioners and the IT Steering
Committee's physician champion, Dr. Greg Andrews agrees, "ScImage's
overall workflow solution is going to assist us in growing
our business and will enable a more efficient workflow for
the group. We have been using the PicomEnterprise solution
since 2004 with great results and look forward to adopting
the elements that complement and complete our digital workflow."
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Customer Focus - Diagnostic Imaging Assoc.
“We interpret more than 200,000 exams annually that come from 41 facilities around the state. ScImage helped us unify our approach to reading.”
Dr. Dean Fullingim - President
Diagnostic Imaging Associates - Tulsa, OK |
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