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All the Right Pieces
The nine offices comprising Oncology Alliance (OA) in Milwaukee,
WI, offer comprehensive cancer treatment and use IMPAC “to the
nth degree.” In January 2003, a group of medical and radiation
oncologists merged, and in September that same year moved into a
new building. “From the get-go,” according to Diane Short,
director of radiation oncology and medical imaging, “we decided
to make the radiation department almost paperless. We looked at
several record and verify systems, but since IMPAC offered more
of the pieces we needed, including integrated charting with code
capture, we went with IMPAC.”
Quick Access to Electronic Charts
Today, OA is using IMPAC to integrate treatments between
radiation and medical oncology departments to expedite treatment
set-up (now scheduled every 15 minutes), to quickly access
images to discuss with patients during visits, and to integrate
transcriptions as an integral part of the electronic medical
chart. According to Short, “the only pieces of paper that get
into charts are those that patients bring in, and in the near
future, we’ll be scanning them in so we’ll have no paper charts
at all.”
Open Systems Integration
Among the most important aspects of IMPAC for Short is that the
system is designed to integrate with the other systems OA uses.
“People need to purchase top-notch equipment, and you don’t find
one company that excels in everything. It’s important to get the
best that’s out there for your patients, so it’s vital to be
able to integrate software systems across a broad spectrum of
equipment,” noted Short.
A True Partnership
Given IMPAC’s presence throughout OA’s treatment and office
management systems, Short said she particularly appreciates that
IMPAC software is user-friendly and the company is responsive to
the needs of its customers. “When we say ‘If we could just do
this, it would make our lives easier,’ IMPAC pays attention,”
said Short, who in 25 years in medical imaging has experienced
several customer-sparked enhancements to IMPAC software. “IMPAC
just keeps getting better.” |
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