Healthcare today, medical imaging in particular, requires efficient workflows, ready access to patient data, and superb interconnectivity between technologies and systems. To that end, it's imperative that a facility's departments, especially the IT and clinical divisions, work well together.

Meet Maria Damiano, MBA, RT, as I did in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Healthcare Radiology Administrators (AHRA). She is the director of administration in the information management division of the department of radiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), as well as the corporate manager of information systems for the Partners HealthCare System Inc. Her story is one of the largest enterprise-wide digital transitions I've encountered yet.

Back in 1999, BWH's cardiovascular center made the decision to go filmless. The COO at the time, Matt Van Vranken, questioned if and how the cardio division could take advantage of the PACS already in use by the hospital's radiology department, which had been installed 2 years earlier. According to Damiano, Van Vranken's strategic thinking-coupled with the vision of both Ramin Khorasani, MD, MPH, medical director of imaging informatics in the department of radiology, and Steven Seltzer, MD, chairman of the department of radiology-started the facility on an incredible journey that would eventually encompass not just multiple departments, but multiple facilities as well.

Today, the system is installed and working at three hospitals: BWH (700-plus beds); the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, (serving more than 150,000 outpatients per year); and the Faulkner Hospital (150 beds). Up-and-running departments include all of the radiology-based divisions, cardiac cath labs, vascular labs, echocardiography labs, ultrasound, and high-risk obstetrics.

The system is a combination of offerings from several manufacturers. "We worked with just one vendor in the beginning, and now we work with multiple vendors," Damiano says. "There are advantages and disadvantages to both; it really depends on the functional requirements of a facility. We've all had to be very open-minded."

And that's just one of the lessons that can be learned from her story-to remain open-minded not just to the possibility and necessity of transitioning to filmless imaging, but also in how the process can be implemented. "As we move forward, we continuously assess our technologies and processes and then adjust accordingly," she says.

Another lesson is to have good communication and a solid relationship between the IT and clinical departments. Plus, members of both teams must work to understand the needs of the other.

Also, it's helpful to have physicians at the top who help spread the word about the new capabilities, efficiencies, and overall excellence that the new system can provide. In fact, Damiano believes that this physician-to-physician discussion-rather than a push from administration-is what helped with the successful adoption of the system at BWH.

Finally, although the very humble Damiano disagrees, I think it makes a dramatically positive difference to have someone like her, who has a varied background, help to facilitate the process. In Damiano's case, she has the clinical background (as an RT), the business knowledge (with an MBA), and an understanding of systems improvement (she previously did internal consulting on process redesign for BWH). Because she understands so many different aspects of the process, Damiano was invaluable to the team.

If you're looking to maximize productivity and resources in your facility, consider Damiano and her story in Boston. The lessons to be learned are many.

Andi Lucas
Editor

One Step Further Has your facility considered deploying an enterprise-wide system? See "Across the Board" where we highlight several manufacturers' offerings as well as how they're being used.