Case Study: Pinnacle Management, LLC
In April 2001, Chuck Conley, CFO of Pinnacle Management, LLC, along with President and Co-founder Dr. Timothy Dineen, established Richmond Open MRI in Richmond, Kentucky, with a goal of satisfying both patients and physicians by providing them with quality care and quick response times. After two years of consistently achieving this goal, Mr. Conley opened a second facility, Winchester Open MRI, in Winchester, Kentucky, creating Pinnacle Management, LLC. They had top of the line equipment, an excellent technologist, and radiologist team who were dedicated to report turnaround times of two to three hours, yet the two facilities were slowly becoming unmanageable. There seemed to be a different system for every aspect of their workflow and keeping them coordinated and efficient was clearly becoming more difficult. Also, because of the quick growth in business, routing films to the location where they could be read, as well as scheduling and storing files, were becoming issues. With business growing and patient volumes increasing, it became evident that in order to continue to operate successfully and increase efficiency, a more streamlined approach was needed.
The Process of Making a Decision
Mr. Conley determined a RIS/PACS, paperless product would solve the issues Pinnacle Management was experiencing. Mr. Conley created a list of considerations that would determine the system they would select. The list included items such as system cost, web compatibility, ability to convert entirely to a paperless environment, and the cost of adding modalities or other facilities. Mr. Conley attended various sales presentations and conferences to expand his knowledge of RIS/PACS systems. He not only needed a system that met all of his organization’s needs, but whose performance would also justify his decision.
It was at The Association for Medical Imaging Management (AHRA) Annual conference that Mr. Conley was approached by an existing Avreo customer who described their solution to him. After learning about Avreo, Mr. Conley discussed his options with Avreo president and CEO John Sloan and partnered with Channel Partner Digital X-Ray Specialists who provided excellent knowledge and support.
After considering all options, Pinnacle Management chose the Avreo interWORKS complete RIS/PACS solution. interWORKS RIS/PACS offers a complete radiology workflow solution and incorporates every step in the radiology workflow into a single application, single database system. The interWORKS solution was able to satisfy the needs of Pinnacle Management’s two facilities while allowing for potential growth. Not only could interWORKS manage Pinnacle Management’s entire workflow process from start to finish in one application, but the solution also reduced their current cost by fifty percent. The interWORKS RIS/PACS solution was the best fit for Pinnacle Management, meeting all criteria they were looking for and more. Most importantly, Mr. Conley felt completely comfortable he made the right decision.
Entering the Digital Age
Avreo learned early in the implementation process how Pinnacle Management envisioned their daily workflow and were positive this could be achieved with interWORKS. At the time of implementation, the biggest concern was in data migration and training. Pinnacle Management wanted to make sure all prior data would be accurately migrated to the new system. To achieve this, all patient data was entered into the pre-existing billing system, which was then interfaced with Avreo. Once the interface between the two systems was implemented, patient data migrated automatically. Mr. Conley also wanted to make sure his staff would be able to use this robust system. After a short training period, staff at Pinnacle Management felt comfortable with the system and found it to be extremely intuitive.
According to Mr. Conley, “throughout eight years of service, adding onto the system has never been a difficult task. If we add a new modality at a remote center, it takes only a few minutes to integrate it into the system and it takes Avreo minutes to add a radiologist into the system. Because Avreo is extremely user friendly, these radiologists become fully proficient in a matter of hours.”
A Successful Decision
Pinnacle Management’s workflow using the interWORKS system begins with scheduling. A physician’s office calls to set up an appointment for a radiology procedure. A receptionist enters the patient, insurance, and procedure information in interWORKS.
When the patient arrives for the exam, the receptionist verifies the patient’s information in the billing system. The interface between the two systems allows the information to automatically flow into interWORKS. The scheduling time slot in interWORKS changes to a light blue color, alerting the technologist that the patient has arrived for their procedure and is ready to be seen.
After performing the procedure, the technologist completes the study in interWORKS and enters any notes for the radiologist using the Tech Notes feature. Tech Notes save time and do not interrupt the workflow of either the technologists or radiologists.
After the technologist completes the study, interWORKS automatically displays it on the reading worklist available to all of Pinnacle Management’s radiologists. Because interWORKS is a truly web-based solution, Pinnacle Management’s radiologists, who are located throughout the United States and Canada, are able to access the worklist from virtually anywhere at any time.
The radiologists use the digital dictation capabilities and traditional transcription in interWORKS to create reports. Once transcribed, the radiologist reviews and electronically signs the report, which triggers an automated fax or email of the report to the ordering physician.
After implementing Avreo interWORKS, Pinnacle Management, LLC has experienced substantial improvements in efficiency. They have also experienced rapid report turnaround time, and impressive cost savings.
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