High-Tech Hospitals
- July 2005
- Français
Photo courtesy of Siemens Canada Limited.Patients can have many MRI tests done from a feet-first placement.
New MRI Unit
In May, a new state-of-the-art Siemens Avanto MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) unit was delivered to Greater Niagara General Site in Niagara Falls. This is a first for the city, and the second for the region, with the first regional scanner at the St. Catharines General Site. This addition will greatly improve access to MRI for the region's residents and reduce current wait times. Renovations are now underway and the MRI is expected to be up and running in July. This significantly improves the NHS's ability to provide timely advanced diagnostic tests.
The 12,100 lb/5,500 kg unit features new technology, allowing for full-body scans and many scans can be done from a feet-first placement for patients thus allowing for greater patient comfort says Radiologist Dr. Amit Mehta, Regional Director of MRI. "We also expect the scan times to drop because of the new unit's advanced technology. With our current MRI scanner in St. Catharines, we take about 45 minutes for the average non-complex scan. That should be cut to 30 minutes with the new MRI scanner. Of course, this is better for the patient and also allows our staff to do more scans in a shift, to better manage our wait times."
New CT Units
In the last six months, the NHS has powered up two new state-of-the-art Siemens CT (Computerized Tomography) scanners. Following closely on the heels of Canada's first 64-slice unit, installed at St. Catharines General Site in November/04 (see November/04 Lead Story), a 64-slice CT scanner was installed at Greater Niagara General Site in Niagara Falls in March.
"The new CT unit at Greater Niagara General Site is expected to perform 1,000 more exams per year which will help reduce patient wait times," says Tom Roy, Diagnostic Services Manager at Greater Niagara General. "We expect to reduce our wait times fairly significantly. This unit replaces the 11-year-old one-slice CT scanner which has served the hospital and the community well. Technology has come so far, and we really look forward to being leaders in the field with the new unit."
"There are many state-of-the art clinical and information technologies being introduced at our hospitals," says Bala Kathiresan, Senior Corporate and Chief Information Officer. "We are working hard to ensure our patients have access to the best possible care." Along with changes in diagnostic imaging services, many advances in information technologies are also taking place. The installation of fibre-optic cabling in Niagara this year is literally laying the groundwork for a wide range of technological advances for our hospitals that wouldn't be possible otherwise.
New Phone System
The fibre-optic cabling has been laid in St. Catharines and NOTL, and following along is Phase 1 of a new telephone system for the NHS. By mid-July, these two hospitals, as well as the IT Data Centre, will go live with a state-of-the-art system. "Some of our telephone systems are very old and we have had difficulty in servicing these antiquated systems," Bala says.
Within the next year, all NHS sites will have the new phone system, and with it a new phone number that will be toll-free from all corners of Niagara – 905-378-4NHS(4647). "The current phone numbers for our hospitals will always remain; what we are doing is adding a new phone number that eliminates long-distance charges and makes it easier for the public to call our hospitals," Bala says. Voice recognition is also a feature of the new phone system. By typing in to the keypad, or saying a staff person or department name, the automated attendant will connect the caller.
Managing Electronic Images
An upcoming multi-million dollar challenge is a regional Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) plan, which will create efficiencies and improve patient care. A PACS system is a filmless system which allows images to be viewed electronically and across all NHS sites. "We are creating a filmless and paperless environment for diagnostic images and reporting, for X-ray, CT, MRI, Nuclear Medicine, Ultrasound, and Angiography," says Hilary Evans-Redpath, PACS Project Manager. "The images and reports created from these modalities will become part of the comprehensive electronic patient record, enabling the caregivers to provide well-informed care."
Communication will be improved for physicians as images are available instantly, and there will be a significant increase in radiologists' ability to read images and do reporting quickly and directly from a PACS workstation in their hospital office. "We will also eliminate the problem of lost films because images will be available immediately on PC's throughout the NHS," Hilary says.
Due to advances in health-care technology, film is no longer a feasible method for the recording, interpretation and storing of diagnostic images. "Another benefit will be the savings we will gain by no longer purchasing film, processing supplies and equipment, paper, film bags and film library storage areas." The NHS is projecting that PACS will go live at St. Catharines General Site by year-end, to be followed in 2006 by other sites.