Oklahoma Critical Access Hospital Installs New PACS with Web-Based Image Viewer to Expedite Sharing of Patient Data

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb.4 – Holdenville General Hospital (Holdenville, Okla.) recently implemented Carestream’s Vue PACS with its Vue Motion universal viewer to equip onsite physicians to quickly evaluate each patient’s condition and assess whether the patient needs to be transported to a higher level hospital. Holdenville is located in a rural area 80 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.  

“As a critical access hospital, the Vue Motion viewer is essential when our physicians are  deciding whether we can treat a patient or if we need to arrange for the patient to be moved to another hospital that can address their needs,” Chad Short, the hospital’s Director of Radiology and PACS Administrator.

“Vue Motion delivers rapid, automated access to patient images and information from our hospital information system. Onsite physicians can now view images on their mobile devices and we will also be offering Vue Motion access to referring physicians and remote specialists,” he adds. “Its features are intuitive so clinicians can become proficient users in about five to 10 minutes.”

Hospital staff members evaluated several image viewers prior to making a decision. “This viewer is easy to implement because it’s completely web-based, the images are compressed and its fast transmission makes images available in seconds. Other viewers we considered didn’t match the performance it offers,” he notes. “And because it’s a zero footprint viewer, we avoid the time and expense of installing and maintaining a viewer at multiple facilities.”    

In the past Short’s staff downloaded patient images and other data onto DVDs that are shipped with patients when they are transferred to other hospitals. Now patient data is shared electronically so physicians can be ready to treat patients when they arrive.   
Carestream’s reliable service was also a factor in selecting these systems. “Service is always an important element in any major implementation. We have experienced excellent service from Carestream for our imaging systems and I knew we could depend on them to take care of our IT systems as well,” Short said.