PACS injection-record integration capabilities demonstrated at RSNA

Radiology imaging leader MEDRAD, Inc. demonstrated PACS injection-record integration capabilities at the November 2009 Radiology Society of North America in Chicago. The Connect.PACS(TM) product, enabling the first radiology informatics capabilities of its kind, is the latest release in the company's newly branded Certegra(TM) Informatics Platform.

Certegra products automate and advance how patient and study information is generated, integrated and mobilized within radiology. Certegra products automate record keeping; integrate injection records into PACS; personalize contrast dosing (P3T(TM)); integrate CT scanner and injector operation (ISI); and enable remote equipment service.

"MEDRAD is using informatics to open up access to data providing clinical, research, and operational benefits within an enterprise," says William Boonn, M.D., Chief 3D and Advanced Imaging, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. "Clinical records integration offers built-in workflow efficiencies and productivity potential. Without it, radiologists have to either track down the technologist who performed a study or go to the scanner directly to get the information they need."

Certegra's Connect.PACS builds on current platform capabilities including information capture, automated record keeping and compliance documentation, as well as additional reporting options. Connect.PACS immediately transfers a patient's CT contrast-injection record to PACS, eliminating the need to manually enter injection information. The injection record transfer enables radiologists to view injection protocols alongside the patient's PACS image set for real-time and retrospective image analysis.

"Demand to deliver improved clinical outcomes while realizing greater cost efficiencies and workflow productivity has never been greater for healthcare providers," says Anthony Cinalli, executive director, MEDRAD Radiology. "We're harnessing the power of informatics to help healthcare professionals meet these needs in ways that, until now, have been largely untapped."