CarolinaEast Health System
Quality care matters deeply to CarolinaEast Health System, an award-winning health system in New Bern, N.C. Yet managing the complexity and cost of care was becoming increasingly challenging given the volume of disparate data housed in many, often incompatible, systems. While securely acquiring, assessing, sharing and storing patient imaging data has always been paramount to CarolinaEast, the method for doing so was complicated and varied widely among its multiple locations. Additionally, managing many contracts, vendors and systems was both cumbersome and costly to information technology (IT) and clinical teams alike.
Transformation Born of Collaboration
Challenges like these call for ingenuity and collaboration. And that is exactly what the CarolinaEast team demonstrated by implementing a transformative managed service approach – an approach that was carefully planned and skillfully implemented. Philips customer success, clinical, IT and enterprise managers met with CarolinaEast experts to better understand their needs and prioritize issues, gaining stakeholder alignment from the start of and throughout the process.
One Managed Service, Many Benefits
With Philips IntelliSpace Enterprise Edition, a comprehensive managed service platform, CarolinaEast clinical teams now have easy access, via an intuitive dashboard, to data from disparate sources, including the electronic medical record (EMR). Predictive analytics now drive better informed care decisions. A secure, standardized and simplified way to save and share images, as well as enhanced security and interoperability for clinical solutions, makes streamlined workflows, collaborative communications and operational efficiencies possible.
Better Interoperability, Better Care
Ensuring interoperability of both systems and settings impacts not only IT teams, but clinical teams as well. With IntelliSpace Enterprise Edition, the CarolinaEast team could work within their existing infrastructure, including their EMR, to optimize their enterprise management and enhance their investment.
“I used to have to run from the cath lab to the EKG department looking for differences in prior studies to be able to rapidly make wise decisions for a cardiac patient in the emergency department,” said Alex Kirby, M.D., cardiac cath lab medical director and Heart Center cardiologist at CarolinaEast. “We use a lot of different technologies, so we really like it when they connect smoothly to help us understand what’s happening with our patients. When different tools come together, we can come to the best diagnosis and treatment.”
Freedom From the Daily Grind
CarolinaEast was looking for one contract, one pay-per-use fee and one support number for all their Philips solutions. Now there is a dedicated team to help manage the expanse and expense across their enterprise. And by freeing CarolinaEast doctors, technologists and IT specialists from much of the daily grind of data and system management, they can now concentrate on what matters most – their own specialties.
“Our technologists don’t spend as much time doing paperwork or computer work. With the information flowing through the system, they can concentrate more on patient care, on imaging work, and on getting quality information to the cardiologist or radiologist,” said Donna Russell, supervisor of radiology and cardiology imaging, CarolinaEast Physician Practice Offices.
Continuity and Cost Savings
Implementing standardized, interoperable systems has helped CarolinaEast streamline training and care across their facilities. Standardization also fosters cost efficiencies. According to Russell, “It saves time and money when we don’t have to repeat procedures because the same information is available in different settings.”
Rick Fisher, director of imaging services, added, “Sometimes additional scans are done that you don’t get reimbursed for. Putting imaging on a network with IntelliSpace Enterprise Edition solved that for us.”
Standardized practices across the enterprise also make training new employees more efficient. “Technologists capture and save information in the same way at all of our locations. That means that they can work at any location and have no learning curve, which is a huge help,” said Mike Ciancio, imaging systems administrator, CarolinaEast Medical Center.
Round-the-clock Data Security
With continuous detection for threat prevention, IntelliSpace Enterprise Edition safeguards data so that it can only be retrieved by those granted access. In addition, it is designed so that data cannot be modified without detection and is securely available anytime, anywhere. “Our journey with IntelliSpace Enterprise Edition started with our IT team, who was concerned about encryption, updates and patches. Philips stepped forward to do all of that for us,” Fisher said.
Philips alerts CarolinaEast about necessary upgrades to their IT systems and handles the entire process securely and remotely, helping to improve staff experience and reducing the total cost of ownership. “Philips ensures that we have the latest security patches in place,” Ciancio said.
Planning for Future Success
With a predictable, transparent cost of ownership, IntelliSpace Enterprise Edition helps CarolinaEast to scale confidently, adding locations and solutions across departments and enterprises.
“Preparing for the future is extremely important to all of the cardiologists as well as the primary care and reading providers at CarolinaEast,” Russell said. “But most of all, it’s important to our patients for us to provide the best care possible in the fastest, most economical way.”
Together Philips and CarolinaEast worked to provide clinicians with the latest innovations and IT teams with increased peace of mind, all within a secure, scalable enterprise solution.
Results are specific to the institution where they were obtained and may not reflect the results achievable at other institutions.
September 22, 2023 
