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Upgrading to IMPAC
The radiation oncology facility at Good Samaritan Hospital (GSH)
in Los Gatos, Calif., has a friendly and welcoming
atmosphere—from the warm décor and easy smiles to the puzzle
table in the waiting room. But a chill rushes through the staff
when asked about the system they used prior to installing
IMPAC’s radiation oncology information system two years ago.
“There was no automation – everything was manual,” stated Terri
Coburn, director, radiation oncology. “And without a
comprehensive system, nothing is easy.” Before IMPAC, the staff
would spend a significant amount of time hunting down patient
charts – no small deal when considering that many of the charts
were kept off-site. It was also harder to enter treatment
parameters by hand, and with all of the manual entries came an
increased likelihood of keystroke error. Not so with the IMPAC
system, which Coburn likes for its tight ranges. As she
explained, “It will not let you do anything without
verification. It is virtually impossible to order a wrong test
on a patient.”
Integral to Expansion
The IMPAC system was selected at a time when GSH’s radiation
oncology department was poised for growth. It was chosen by
their physicians, who had used it at previous facilities and had
liked the intuitiveness of its Windows®-based system and the
fact that it integrates easily with other external HL7 and DICOM
compliant systems. Although Coburn joined the GSH team shortly
after the systems change, her own experience with IMPAC
stretched back over a decade. She considers the system to be
“far superior to other vendors” that she had tried – in fact, “I
actually wouldn’t have accepted this job if they didn’t have
IMPAC,” she admitted.
Community Leadership
Since selecting IMPAC, GSH has seen some significant changes.
Chief among them are that the system has allowed the hospital to
provide Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) for their
patients. Coburn proudly noted, “We were the first in the South
Bay to offer IMRT and Stereotactic Radiosurgery.” In support of
their oncology program growth Coburn has also doubled the staff
on GSH’s radiation oncology team in the last year. The
combination of the technological advancements they’ve made and
the expanded staff has helped to significantly boost GSH’s
presence in the local cancer community.
Enhancing the System
The IMPAC system has grown to be an essential tool at GSH.
However it is still a work in progress for them because they
continue to add new features to enhance their efficiency. The
latest was installing an interface for charge capture, which
makes it easier to verify charges before they are exported. The
IMPAC system allows GSH to enter the patient demographic and
charge information just once and then exports it to the hospital
system for billing. GSH’s future plans include digital imaging
to allow radiographs to be viewed on the IMPAC system.
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Good Samaritan's oncology campus in Los Gatos, Calif.
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Good Samaritan's oncology program offers IMRT and Stereotactic
Radiosurgery
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