Bochum, 28 September 2011 - radprax Group, an association of medical care centers and radiology, nuclear medicine and radiation therapy practices, encompasses 45 specialist physicians and 250 highly qualified medical-technical staff at 14 sites in the German cities of Wuppertal, Solingen, Hilden, Düsseldorf, Münster, Arnsberg and Meschede. "From the very beginning it has been our aim to establish one of the most modern practice groups in Germany. Consequently, at all sites we offer state-of-the-art equipment as well as the best diagnostic procedures and therapies", says co-managing director Dr Heiner Steffens.
Since in addition to the medical technology equipment it is the IT infrastructure that contributes significantly to top quality patient care, radprax Group updated its current information system: as of 1 July 2011 the team uses JiveX, the PACS solution by VISUS. "The system was integrated into the iSOFT RIS and linked to the hospital information systems by systema and Agfa HealthCare that are being used by three of our hospitals partners", explains Marek Stefanides, Director of IT at radprax Group. The complexity of the project did not faze VISUS and Stefanides is highly pleased with the outcome: "Everything was on schedule and on 1 July eleven of our sites started working with JiveX. Installation went smoothly and in cooperation with VISUS we were able to master all challenges along the way such as training our staff and parallel implementation in the different practices." The practices now use a real multi-site PACS in which user profiles, image data, image status, etc. are continuously synchronized. "In order to enable seamless access to older images we migrated about 68.5 terabyte of legacy data from the old PACS", adds Dr Alexander Klemm, PACS project manager at radprax.
Moreover, radprax introduced another innovation: the PACS was not purchased but is operated by VISUS and radprax uses the so-called application service for PACS (ASP). "The radiologists pay a monthly fee based on the data volume. This pay-per-use model includes service and maintenance. The advantages are obvious: no investment and no tied-up capital but full flexibility and payment that reflects usage", explains Guido Bötticher, Head of Sales Germany of the Bochum-based IT service provider VISUS. The eleven sites that are currently linked to the PACS generate approximately 200.000 examinations with a total data volume of one terabyte per year. Silent Cubes by Fast LTA take care of the Group's long-term archiving needs.
"The new PACS complies with all data protection requirements. Together with the centralized structure it offers many advantages for both physicians and patients. Due to the system's multi-client capabilities earlier images can always be integrated into the diagnostic process - independent of location - which avoids unnecessary second examinations. Radiologists and radiation therapists exchange information on previous examinations and radiation therapy sessions and can easily set up a tele-conference to discuss complex cases", says Dr Steffens underlining the benefits of the software update.
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