Solution
We deployed a VNA and Documentum ECM platform to provide a central archive for many disparate sources of existing unstructured information including Dicom Images (Radiology and Cardiology) and Non-Dicom content, including scanner paper documents, such as CAS Cards. We integrated our VNA Patient Viewer zero footprint web client with the hospital’s existing Cerner Electronic Patient Records (EPR) so that clinicians across the organisation could access Patient Record content in the VNA platform. We then migrated all Radiology and Cardiology Patient Dicom Images and existing legacy Windip documents into the platform.
Project Success
The scope included the migration of 100TB+ of Dicom image Data and 10TB of scanned Windip documents. The system has been made available to over 2,500 clinicians in the trust.
Benefits include:
- The zero-footprint viewer, integrated with the Cerner EPR, allows a clinician to view all Radiology, Cardiology and associated scanned patient documents within a timeline view from a single, easy-to-use web application.
- This removes the need to access multiple separate applications/information silos.
- We established a streamlined scanning solution for the capture of patient record paper documentation to simplify information capture and reduce the size of the paper archive.
- We decommissioned historical legacy systems, including Windip, to realise operational cost savings and simplify ongoing system administration.
Solution
SynApps was selected to replace the legacy system with Alfresco Enterprise Content Management (ECM), including the migration of the existing clinical records. The Alfresco Share user interface is launched via a contextual link from the RiO EPR displaying the documents that make up the patients’ medical record. Clinicians can navigate via traditional folder structures or search filters, while thumbnails and text search are also enabled. A separate repository to manage HR records has been implemented, including an integration with Microsoft Office and Outlook.
Project Success
SynApps delivered both systems on time and on budget to support 2,500 users. The ease of use and performance of the new solution has resulted in increased productivity for users and much less frustration for clinicians when retrieving patient records. The Trust is planning to integrate future applications, including the management of Freedom of Information requests, to leverage their investment in the new ECM platform.
Solution
The solution outlined how the medical records data would be drawn from the Trust’s selected scanning bureau and how the integration of the EPR with the Alfresco Electronic Content Management (ECM) platform would ensure each captured medical record could be displayed within the context of a user-selected patient. Following a successful POC, the solution went live in May 2017, with additional projects relating to Integration with Cerner (New EPR), Postage Integration (incoming mail) Internal Centralised Scanning, Referrals and WinDip migration completed since.
Project Success
From the start, SynApps built relationships to empower people and focus a group of geographically dispersed individuals to work together towards a common goal. As a result, the project was delivered within agreed timeframes and budget, with clinicians using the solution successfully for the retrieval of both legacy and day forward medical records. The Trust now enjoys an end-to-end ECM solution for the capture, storage, management and retrieval of Medical Records, enabling it to commence a controlled roll-out of the solution across the hospital.
Solution
SynApps provided the Trust with a secure, cloud-based Unified Health Information System from Aptvision. This browser-based solution provides Radiology teams with centralised oversight of the entire workload across the customers different sites. In so doing, it improves vetting and prioritisation of patients referred and reduces turnaround times for priority scanning and reporting. The system has been integrated with all the Trust’s modalities and a new set of workflows configured providing electronic scheduling and vetting using SynApps’ modern, flexible browser-based solution. It has been deployed across the trusts three main sites where the Radiology department is based. All existing Radiology data including the legacy reports were migrated to the new platform.
Project Success
The SynApps-Aptvision solution, which is 100% web based, allows the Trust’s radiology services to be coordinated digitally from anywhere as part of a ‘paperless NHS’. Ultimately the digitisation of the referral and vetting process enables better patient outcomes, improves resource use, and reduces missed appointments, which are thought to account for up to 10 per cent of appointments across public hospitals.
The Trust is currently deploying a second phase covering access for referring doctors using the platforms Referral Web Portal. This will speed up the referral process further and provide doctors with additional access and controls over the appointments they make and faster access to the finalised report.
Solution
This solution provides the Trust with a common platform for the storage and management of DICOM image data using the SynApps VNA and ECM platforms. The programme of work has encompassed a Radiology DICOM migration, which was tasked with the migration of 22TB of DICOM images from the trusts existing Sectra PACS system to the VNA platform. It also included a Cardiology DICOM migration, which integrated the Trust’s existing GE and Philips Echo Ultrasound modalities with the VNA for the ongoing archiving of new Cardiology study data; as well as an Obstetric DICOM migration from the Trust’s existing Astraia PACS solution to provide a long-term archive for this data.
Project Success
The VNA allows the trusts Sectra Radiology PACS solution to retrieve data on demand from the VNA. A zero-footprint web-based patient viewer was provided with the VNA to provide a timeline view of all Dicom data in the VNA. This viewer is used by the Cardiology department to view historical studies since they currently do not have a dedicated PACS solution.
Solution
The SynApps Vendor Neutral Archive (VNA) solution enables the Trust to create a secure clinical portal that pulls data from multiple systems in multiple formats stored in their Documentum ECM platform. The data can now be accessed directly from any of the PACS systems connected to the VNA or from the VNA portal, which offers a simple web interface, allowing clinicians to view patient information anywhere, on any device. When new medical images are generated by radiology, cardiology or other departments, they can view all the patient data directly in the VNA. As a result, images can be accessed within three seconds, a significant improvement over the old process.
Project Success
When the Trust moved from their PACS provider, the implementation of the SynApps VNA and SynApps implementation approach meant that the subsequent migration was de-risked, data migration to the new PACS was faster and data was far cleaner.
The migration phases of the project involved 30TB of Radiology DICOM data covering 1.8M studies and 20TB of Cardiology Dicom covering 80,000 studies. The VNA based on the ECM platform now contains over 150TB of content (300M images) increasing by over 400,000 new studies each year.
The trust also successfully implemented a paper free medical record scanning solution based on this same ECM platform. This has further broadened the scope of patient data held within the platform. Clinicians now have immediate access to a broad range of DICOM and Non-DICOM content. This Medical Record archive has since grown to a size that nearly equals that of the original DICOM dataset over the last 2 years.
In addition, the trust has successfully integrated new free-standing Theatre Stackers (Endoscopy and Orthopaedic) directly with the VNA to provide for the archiving of the imaging data generated. This has provided clinicians across the trust with access to the data without needing to access the imaging devices directly.
Solution
SynApps deployed the Mevis Veolity application and its enterprise reporting database at the Trust and configured the solution to work alongside the Trust’s existing PACS solution, using the provided out-of-the-box DICOM integration. The company also configured the reporting database to capture the clinical data for each patient Lung CT. Finally, SynApps trained the Trust’s Radiologists in using the Veolity application as part of their reporting activities.
The project team was comprised of individuals from both SynApps Solutions and the customer including:
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- Customer Stakeholders
- Project Manager
- Veolity Implementation Consultant
- Infrastructure Team Members
All the implementation work was conducted offsite. SynApps established regular catch-up meetings to identify progress, next steps and any blocking issues. Support was provided during the clinical testing phase to ensure adequate training and discuss any issues identified.
Project Success
SynApps provided the Mevis Veolity Lung Screening solution in conjunction with its enterprise reporting database platform. Veolity combines lung CAD of solid, non-solid and partially solid pulmonary nodules, with the integration and automatic registration of prior studies, thus efficiently creating clear reports within an improved workflow. It also deployed its enterprise reporting database to capture all clinical data produced by Veolity, so the trust was able to quickly and efficiently provide national reporting data to NHS England.
