Thumbs Up to Filmless Imaging
& Advanced Patient Care




and

ST. ELIZABETH MEDICAL CENTER
2209 GENESEE STREET
UTICA, NEW YORK

Media Contact:           
For St. Elizabeth, Catherine Hanover, 315-798-8195
For MV Imaging, Mary or Bob Stronach, 315-796-9284, stronach@borg.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   Feb. 7, 2007

St. Elizabeth Introduces PACS Filmless Imaging

Providers Can View X-Rays, Other Images
From Patient Care Units, Office, Home, Anywhere

St. Elizabeth Medical Center has made an imaging technology upgrade that brings improved care to patients, and filmless diagnostic images to physicians – fast, wherever they are.

It’s called PACS, for Picture Archival and Communications System, and it’s now being used to display CT scans, MRIs, x-rays and sonograms.

“No longer will patients, staff and physicians have to wait for hard copies of these images and radiology reports to be delivered,” noted Ralphael Alcuri, M.D., a radiologist with St. Elizabeth and Mohawk Valley Imaging. “These images are now sent electronically to a review station where a radiologist will review them. The reports and images will then be available to physicians who are part of the Medical Center’s PACS system or Physician Portal network.”

The caregivers who need patient medical information will get it more quickly. The sooner they have that information, the sooner an accurate diagnosis and treatment options can be identified. That means patients get better care, he said.

“PACS provides immediate access to diagnostic images and reports, anytime, anywhere,” Dr. Alcuri said. “It enables faster diagnosis, facilitates consultation with specialists, and can lead to better patient care. PACS helps physicians manage their time, and improve the quality and timeliness of care for their patients.”

PACS enables providers to view their patient’s new and previous diagnostic images side by side, along with the radiologist’s reports.

Images can be accessed directly through the PACS system, or through the Medical Center’s Physician Portal, where physicians may also review medical records and complete and sign off on reports.

Although using electronic test results saves the hospital – and potentially the patient – money, the biggest advantage from a patient’s standpoint is speed. MRIs, CT scans, x-rays and sonograms are often used to diagnose problems that are potentially life-threatening or affect quality of life. With the PACS system, the agonizing wait can be reduced virtually to real time.

 “It’s minutes as opposed to hours,” Dr. Alcuri said. “The radiologist who reads the image can see it before the patient leaves the Medical Center or the Marian Medical Imaging outpatient facility.”