Radiology groups are complex collections of distinct personalities with a common goal: they want all radiologists to correctly read as many cases as possible in a timely manner while getting compensated for each interpretation.
The first pothole to get around is getting everyone at maximum production. Before that can be achieved, maximum production must first be defined. Before even that, a committee must come together to decide who defines maximum production. For argument’s sake, we can assume maximum production is where each radiologist reads about the same number of work units per shift or unit of time. Only when maximum production has been defined can workflow balancing begin.
Balancing workflow takes complex workflow management. Every case needs to be sent to a central location, evaluated, weighted and distributed to the correct reader. An equal volume of work should be allocated to each physician. But how do we equitably send the cases to a single location when we have multiple PACS systems and are reading from multiple locations? Many hospitals are hesitant to provide HL7 access due to cybersecurity risks such as ransomware and other malware. Without this integration method, many of us can say goodbye to workflow orchestration, workflow management and subspecialty reads and hello to 1990s workflow. Sound hopelessly familiar?
It doesn’t have to be. PACS Harmony and Dextro Imaging Solutions has a full workflow orchestration suite which provides the routing, evaluation, weighting and distribution of cases equitably to the correct interpreting physician – all while not relying on a HL7-based or backend integration. In addition, only one workstation and one microphone are necessary, consolidating four distinct workspaces down to one. The system meets all safety and FDA requirements, including the absence of virtualization which prevents proper monitor calibration. Let’s start a conversation so we can show you how you can increase group production by 20-30% without onboarding any additional staff.
Michael Esposito, M.D. is a practicing radiologist, two-times former group president of RIS Imaging, Inc., former Medical Director of South Florida Baptist Hospital, Baycare, and a successful entrepreneur. He attended the University of Florida for his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering, the University of South Florida for his Medical Degree and conducted his fellowship at Duke University. Dr. Esposito founded PACS Harmony, LLC in 2009 to develop a software solution to fill a gap in workflow at his own radiology group practice. PACS Harmony was granted U.S. patent #9,727,935 in 2018 for workflow orchestration and equitable case distribution (load balancing). Today, PACS Harmony enables intelligent workflow orchestration for leading commercial PACS and enterprise imaging portfolios.
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