Jeremy, Walls, RT

From The Scan Room


Technologist's View of Life Before and After PACS

Jeremy Walls, RT, (R)(MR) can count the ways that PACS improves radiology workflow at Jackson General.

"There are nine fewer steps, at least," he says, ticking off the sequence of events that used to be required to turn a patient exam into a finished report.

Walls is MRI Manager and a member of the Master Trainer cadre that trained staff members and worked with the PACS consultant to design radiology workflow processes.

" Now, with PACS, we have no lost studies."

PACS workstation

65% Faster Report Turn-Around

Efficiencies begin before the patient arrives, he says. "Instead of having to hunt down the jacket to look at prior studies, we just look them up on PACS - including the protocols."

Once the exam is done, the technologist checks the images on the PACS workstation, makes any adjustments such as window-leveling, and adds comments electronically.

"And that's it. You're done," says Walls. The study is immediately available to the radiologist on the PACS network.

Report turn-around time at Jackson General has decreased 65% since the introduction of PACS.

It's easy to see why. PACS' electronic immediacy replaces a "sneaker net" of technologists, radiologists, and file room clerks that took days - literally - to move studies through the system.

Explains Walls: "Before PACS, we had to print the current films … pull out the prior studies … organize all the films … and deliver the jacket from imaging to the radiology reading room. The radiologist would hang all the films on the light box … compare them … dictate the report … and pitch the jacket into a pile. The file room people would retrieve the jacket … put in a three-day holding area … and on day 4, return it to the main files."

No More Lost Studies

The problem of misplaced files - due to human error or in-transit status - was significant. "Now, with PACS, we have no lost studies," Walls says. The hospital uses minimal films, mostly for outside physicians and in the OR. Film costs have dropped 80%.

These days, he says, the file room staff is kept busy digitizing historical films to populate the radiology database.

When Walls first heard about the hospital's PACS intentions, his initial reaction was: "It's not going to work."

The reality has been much different. "PACS is a good thing," he says. "I'd recommend it for anybody."