OpenVista 2.0 Radiology improves patient care and staff workflow

23 April 2009

Medsphere Systems Corporation, a provider of Open Source healthcare IT solutions, has announced the release of an enhanced OpenVista Radiology Application, the second in a series of OpenVista 2.0 releases that upgrade the robust electronic health record (EHR) solution for the commercial healthcare market.

OpenVista Radiology 2.0 incorporates auto check-in, automatic printing of radiology requisition reports, improved work lists, enhanced picture archiving and autofax capabilities. The application also automatically checks in patients and assigns them case numbers on the day of exams, which frees technicians to perform other duties by eliminating manual check-in. Collectively, these enhancements significantly raise the level of patient care and improve staff work flow in hospitals that implement OpenVista.

The release of OpenVista Radiology by Medsphere follows last week’s introduction of the OV Meds Application as part of the same 2.0 release.

Workflow will also improve with the enhanced OpenVista Radiology Application, which features a single screen tracking board that displays all radiology orders regardless of status. Users can view all patient orders, including those pending but not yet scheduled, enabling more efficient workloads and staffing requirements.

As a particular benefit to hospitals implementing OpenVista, Medsphere has enhanced the Radiology Application through a link to Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS). Users can click on the PACS link in the patient record to view crucial clinical images such as X-rays and scans.

“The enhancements available through both the Meds and Radiology applications are targeted to specific commercial sector needs, and we’re not done yet,” said Michael J. Doyle, president and CEO of Medsphere. “The Healthcare Open Source Ecosystem and our ongoing improvements to OpenVista ensure that patient care at our customer hospitals is constantly elevated.”

The debut of OpenVista 2.0 comes at a significant time for healthcare. Aside from reducing preventable medical errors and improving patient care, US hospitals and physicians are scrambling to become automated and be eligible for nearly $20 billion in Medicare/Medicaid payments (stimulus funding made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) for the adoption of electronic health records. From 2011, stimulus incentive payments decrease annually over the following five years, when they will be phased out entirely.

“Medsphere can bring hospitals live before January 2011 with an affordable, quality solution,” Doyle said. “Proprietary vendors simply can’t meet this deadline.”

OpenVista is the commercialized version of the VistA EHR created and developed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) over more than 20 years and credited with helping turn the VA into a national leader in quality patient care.

OpenVista technology uses Open Source code available from the VA through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Medsphere implements and supports the technology and works collaboratively on updates, enhancements and modifications with the Healthcare Open Source Ecosystem, a community of healthcare facilities, developers, value-added resellers, clinicians and other interested parties dedicated to improving patient care through Open Source tools.

OpenVista last year enabled Midland Memorial Hospital in west Texas to be named a Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) Analytics Stage 6 facility for 1/3 the cost and in 1/3 the time of alternative solutions. Through the Stage 6 designation, HIMSS Analytics recognizes healthcare facilities that have implemented healthcare IT solutions and achieved established levels of automated patient care and clinical process improvement.

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