Large Connecticut Radiology Practice Goes 100% Paperless With MedInformatix RIS

Large Connecticut Radiology Practice Goes 100% Paperless With MedInformatix RIS
Radiology Information System Integrates Bi-Directionally With PACS, Enabling MDs At Naugatuck Valley Radiology Associates To Work From Any of Six Local Offices

LOS ANGELES, CA – (November 20, 2009) – Naugatuck Valley Radiology Associates (NVRA) holds a prominent place in the western Connecticut medical community.  The 125-person practice includes eighteen radiologists operating out of six locations—three in Waterbury and one each in Naugatuck, Southbury and Prospect.

Because NVRA’s technologists and MDs move about continually among the practice’s various regional locations, information access and exchange—especially schedules, images, and reports—are critical.  Nearly two years ago NVRA initiated a search for a newer, more comprehensive Radiology Information System to accomplish these goals.  After a thorough search of leading products, it made its choice: MedInformatix.

“MedInformatix offers both user-friendliness and customization—two of our most important purchase considerations,” said Paul Masotto, Executive Director of NVRA.  “We also needed an end-to-end system that would integrate with our other software packages.”

MedInformatix RIS, perhaps the most complete system of its kind on the market today, incorporates scheduling, registration, technologist and radiologist workflows as well as billing, EDI, custom reporting, collections and more.  To this core package of information and practice management functions, NVRA added several key product options including digital dictation, transcription and mammography tracking.

“Our RIS is at the center of what we do,” Masotto noted.  “It was important for us to find a solution that would integrate routine tasks handled by all our employees, from all our offices.  We find that it’s extremely easy to train employees in how to use MedInformatix, whether those people are new or have ten years of experience.”

The MedInformatix RIS Scheduling module lets front desk personnel book appointments for any MD or procedure at any location.  Managers are able to customize templates and alerts to reflect the practice’s unique work rules.  “We get a lot of walk-ins, which forces us to schedule on the fly.  With MedInformatix we have the visibility and flexibility to accommodate these patients,” said Masotto.

On the revenue management side, NVRA’s MedInformatix system integrates closely with the practice’s clearinghouse provider, ZirMed.  “Between ZirMed and MedInformatix we can manage authorizations and eligibility, submit claims to over 500 different carriers electronically, track and analyze claim status, and obtain our remittances electronically,” commented NVRA Billing Office Manager Paula Bates.  NVRA also has a close relationship with St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury; through a custom batch processing utility supplied by MedInformatix, Bates stated, NVRA is able to import radiology orders, patient reports and charge information directly from the hospital into the practice’s RIS.

Easy software and network integration has been a hallmark of the MedInformatix RIS, observed Masotto.  The capability has not only made life easier for the practice’s clinical users, but also led to a “dream objective”—the creation of a 100% paperless system.

“Unlike most clinics we’ve chosen to design our workflow around our PACS, rather than our RIS.  Yet MedInformatix has supported this choice completely,” he stated.  “By integrating with both our PACS and PowerScribe, our Web-based speech recognition product, MedInformatix lets our MDs and techs review images, dictate reports, sign them electronically, and enter them directly into the RIS from any location.  The reduction in time and errors is remarkable—and it has allowed us to totally eliminate paper from the workflow.”

NVRA is currently beta-testing two new capabilities for its MedInformatix system—a Web Referral module that allows referring physicians to submit appointment requests and receives reports via the Internet.  The other tool, a patient portal, will give patients access to registration and information sheets prior to arrival.

“Our MedInformatix RIS has improved a number of aspects of our organization,” Masotto asserts.  “From scheduling to reporting, billing to collections, it’s streamlined virtually everything we do.”

RSNA 2009 Exhibit
MedInformatix will be demonstrating its RIS product at the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) 2009 Annual Meeting, November 29-December 4 in Chicago, from its exhibit at Booth 7336 in the North Hall of McCormick Place.  For more information about the MedInformatix RIS, go to http://www.medinformatix.com/Products/radiology_information_system.htm.

About MedInformatix:
MedInformatix, Inc. (www.medinformatix.com) is a leading national provider of fully integrated Electronic Health Records.  The products have been built around MedInformatix 25 years of workflow expertise.  MedInformatix suites of products are designed on a single database using Microsoft SQL.  Whether the client is a single physician who went live in 1994, a 13-location cardiology practice, the busiest radiology practice in Manhattan, or one of 15 other specialties it services, MedInformatix  accommodates their needs.  See why so many practices from various specialties choose MedInformatix.  With 13 Microsoft nominations in 8 years and CCHIT certified in 2006 and 2008, MedInformatix can turn the dream of a paperless, integrated practice into a reality.