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The free-standing, not-for-profit Cancer Treatment Center (CTC)
in Belleville, IL is the first comprehensive cancer center in
the nation in which both clinical and business sides of its
operation are completely paperless and filmless. But in 1998
when Jeff Skjerseth became the CTC administrator, there was not
a single computer in the building. Among the first generation of
“computer kids,” Skjerseth was intent on integrating computer
technology into a viable process for creating a completely
paperless facility. “Fortunately,” he said, “when it came to
treating cancer, the two hospitals that compete in serving our
region decided not only to share a comprehensive center but also
the vision to make it a model of the best and most innovative
practices in both treatment and running a business.”
To realize that vision, the first thing Skjerseth did was
contact Impac Software because it offered a comprehensive CIS package
while other vendors addressed only medical or radiation oncology
or practice management but never all three. The second thing, he
explained, was to “start losing paper piece by piece.” At first,
that sometimes meant customizing Impac Software software to perform
specific tasks, such as tweaking the software for expediting
prescriptions and expediting chemo orders. Working closely with
Impac Software to expand the functionality of the company’s prescription
software, CTC helped turn it into a physician’s order management
tool that offers an efficient means for ordering anything, from
drugs through tests and treatments. Over the years, CTC has
quickly adopted Impac Software’s new systems, until today, claimed
Skjerseth, “CTC is Impac Software’s ultimate customer – we use their full
spectrum
of products to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.”
Ultimate Efficiency
“Our huge gains in efficiency,” maintained Skjerseth, “come from
using a single system that interacts with all the different
equipment and technologies in our center.” In an electronic age,
this dictates electronic interaction; and CTC’s efficiency is
achieved by using virtually every module Impac Software offers. These
include an electronic medical record (EMR) that documents
patient information; a noting system, which generates patient
notes without the need for transcription; a component that
analyzes patient data to match patients with clinical trials
whose criteria they meet; a system for storing and maintaining
its digital films; and an interface that automatically creates
and transmit charges to the system’s billing module whenever any
drug is removed from the center’s chemotherapy drug-dispensing
unit.
“The Impac Software system has positively affected many areas of our
practice, from streamlining our clinical work to enhancing
patient care and assuring less confusion with billing,” noted
Dr. Jorge Frank, CTC medical director. “We expected that Impac Software
would make our work easier, but it has exceeded our
expectations.” According to Skjerseth, it has also cut operating
expenses—by $200,000 for five full-time staff positions
eliminated during its first year of paperless operation; reduced
drug inventory costs by about $100,000; and shortened accounts
receivable from an average of 55 days to 38. Moreover, the
electronic record system guards against medication errors since
the system flags suspicious drug interaction problem and
dosages.
Ultimate Reliability
Given a glimpse of how software can boost their efficiency, CTC
physicians developed ideas for further increasing it.
Specifically, they wanted to see all patient information on a
single screen, rather than having to click from multiple screens
to obtain it. Impac Software was responsive to their request, according
to Skjerseth. “We said, ‘Here’s what you need to do.’ Impac Software
listened. Then we helped test and tweak the resultant software,
so that now end-users of Impac Software’s clinician worksheet don’t
encounter the issues we helped solve.” CTC is currently working
on a visual tool that will change the way practices and clinical
trails are managed by presenting raw data into graphical
formats—bar graph, pie chart—the user selects. “We’re visual
people,” noted Skjerseth, “and
this visual presentation of information will enable us to start
with the big picture and then, if desired, drill down back into
the data
it embodies.”
“We absolutely rely on Impac Software,” added Skjerseth. “If Impac Software
doesn’t run in this cancer center, we’re not treating patients.
And in the five years we’ve been running Impac Software, we’ve never been
down. We plan to have a long partnership with Impac Software.” |
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Cancer Treatment Center, Belleville, IL
Dr. Jorge Frank,
Medical Director |
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[Email
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