 |
MHHS Gets New System, Specialists BY DENISE WILLIAMS Tribune Staff Writer February 27, 2008 - It was a process that was two years in the making, but with the introduction of a new radiology group, landmark changes at Morristown -Hamblen Healthcare System are complete. Last year, MHHS became the Lakeway Area's first hospital to install the Picture Archiving and Communication System. The PACS system allows images such as X-rays and scans to be stored electronically and viewed on monitors so doctors and other health care professionals can access the information quickly. If needed, the images can also be compared with previous images at the touch of a button. Earlier this month the second, crucial, phase took place with the hospital's partnership with University Radiology. "We had to completely renovate the entire department," said Emily Blomenberg, director of imaging and oncology services at MHHS. The upgrades took the hospital from a single-man plan to a group of 16 radiologists, many of whom have additional areas of subspecialty. "I put our department up against UT now," Blomenberg said. Patients at MHHS will benefit because their physicians will get radiology results in a timely fashion, "often the same day." Prior to the new equipment and partnership, radiology results could take as long as three to five days. Another benefit is that patients won't have to leave Morristown to get some invasive procedures. Blomenberg explained that if a patient arrived at the emergency room with fluid in the abdomen, he or she often had to be sent out of town. "Now I have the ability to go in and stick it and drain it here," she said. The new system has done away with the need for patients to carry X-ray films from doctor to doctor. "Our radiology department doesn't function on paper or film," Blomenberg said. "Routinely we transfer to CD. Our paper has gone away. We are state-of-the-art now." The paperless system speeds up results getting to referring physicians because now there is no need for the doctor's report to be transcribed. Radiologists use voice-recognition software which turns their record into text on the screen, where it is updated and finalized, removing the transcriptionist from the equation. Through the use of a secure Web site, PACS establishes image communication between the radiologist and the referring physicians at their office, home or another part of the hospital. Blomenberg explained that monitors are available in every unit if the hospital. University Radiology offers some services that are not yet available at MHHS, such as virtual colonoscopy. But Blomenberg explained that is just a matter of purchasing additional software. "We didn't have that option before," she said. Of the group's 16 radiologists, five will be located at MHHS full-time. The new doctors at MHHS and their subspecialties are:
|
