September 29, 2017 — Network Radiology, a leading independent radiology center and teleradiology service provider in Cleveland, is using Exa PACS/RIS from Konica Minolta Healthcare Americas Inc. to help increase productivity and enable high reading volumes for both business applications. With a growing number of imaging studies between the two business segments, Network Radiology relies on Exa PACS server-side rendering and the solution’s diagnostic-quality zero footprint universal viewer for fast access to imaging studies from virtually any location, workstation or modality.
“From a physician reading perspective, Exa helps me read faster than I did with my old system because I no longer have to wait for a case to load. That’s a significant improvement,” said Michael Paley, M.D., chief radiologist and founder/owner of Network Radiology. “For teleradiology, the worklist is infinitely customizable and the viewer is fully functional with a comprehensive set of image manipulation and measurement tools.”
For teleradiology, each of Paley's clients are configured in the Exa system so that all studies are sent to Network Radiology’s Exa PACS (picture archiving and communication system) and an HL-7 interface automatically delivers the completed radiology reports to the clients’ own PACS. It is common in teleradiology for a sending facility to transmit a single exam that has multiple procedure codes within. This presents a problem in that radiologist reporting will typically show only one billable exam, since there usually is not any RIS (radiology information system) interface for teleradiology clients. But with Exa’s Contract Fee Management feature, Network Radiology tracks volume and studies by CPT code and site to capture all billable services, including comprehensive imaging exams that may have multiple billing codes. Thanks to Exa’s Universal Viewer, radiologists can read from nearly any workstation, which further enhances clinical efficiency report turnaround times. With the web-based system, there is no downloading of software, images or patient data, further simplifying the setup of a new radiologist or workstation.
For the imaging center, Exa’s Referring Physician and Patient Portals were a key factor in Paley’s decision to select Konica Minolta’s Exa PACS/RIS. “Our referring physicians love the ability to log in and look at their studies and reports in real time,” said Paley. “The portal is a great marketing tool for us; once our referrers use it, it helps solidify our relationship with them.”
Paley has also seen a big improvement in productivity, not just for radiology reading but also for the office staff. Reports are no longer manually faxed since the system automatically faxes and/or emails completed reports. Patient data is seamlessly transferred from scheduling to the worklist, reducing manual data-entry errors and enhancing technologists’ efficiency.
For more information: www.konicaminolta.com/medicalusa
April 11, 2024 
