by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | February 18, 2019
From the January/February 2019 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
"There are a lot of niche systems out there that are much, much better than some of these enterprise solutions because they have the focus and care on that specific specialty," she said. "Our focus was on integration because we wanted to see the same information across our entire organization and be able to easily flow patients through our system more quickly and in a way that enhanced their overall experience and satisfaction."
The need to connect with and share information across multiple sites has left providers with the challenge of connecting together different types of systems, such as RIS, EHRs, PACs and VNAs, all of which, in many cases, are designed by diverse manufacturers to meet diverse needs.
Based on this reality, choosing the best RIS solution for a practice requires an evaluation of the type of workflow and current technologies used there, as well as an understanding of what each vendor has to offer.
"You want RIS technology from vendor partners that have other compatible modules or solutions whether they are PACS, VNAs or other products," said Holloway. "You want the ability to integrate and interface with other systems, including legacy ones."
Another factor to consider is size. While very small clinics or providers that only perform a small number of imaging exams may be able to get away with a rudimentary system, larger ones may need a fully-featured RIS depending on their type of workflow and the ability of their systems to manage it.
“If the system isn’t able to manage the full workflow for a department, there’s a need for RIS as a component, because it can manage the radiology department and its resources, providing specialized workflow management,” Leigh Dyment, technical product manager for Carestream Vue RIS, told HCB News. “It really depends on the other systems at the hospital and their capability. If the EHR has RIS capabilities for enterprise-like scheduling, the site is less likely to purchase a RIS solution. However, if sites need to do resource management across multiple sites and manage prioritization of imaging studies based on resources, EHRs typically don’t provide that functionality, which ushers in the need for RIS.”
