RIS/PACS' New Features Make Paperless Workflow More Efficient

New features in a radiology information system /picture archiving communication system (RIS/PACS) were added strategically to make paperless workflow even more efficient than before regardless of the clinical environment.

RamSoft (Toronto, Canada) introduced the latest developments in the 5.0 version of their PowerServer RIS/PACS software features, which were added to PowerServer RIS/PACS platform after evaluating customer recommendations and examining needs across the industry.

One highly requested feature was the ability to communicate quickly important patient data to the entire enterprise or to specific members of the workflow that may include remote radiologists --a feature that is only possible on a single platform RIS/PACS. To do this, patient alert pop-ups were added. These alerts can be easily setup from the patient demographics screen and each time the patient record or patient study is opened all relevant alerts will pop up. Patient alert pop-ups are especially useful, for example, in making sure allergy information is communicated to the technologists before any contrast agents are administered.

Enhancements were also made to the zero download referring physician portal to improve the referring physician experience. A physician's time should not be spent searching for patient reports or waiting for faxes to arrive. To eliminate this burden, an all reports tab has been added to in the referring physician portal so prior reports are at their fingertips and available the moment the final report is signed.

RamSoft has also added features to PowerServer RIS/PACS 5.0 to help imaging facilities manage their business. The physician specialty option in the user list allows management to track both referring physicians and reading radiologists by specialty, which is helpful in all aspects of marketing and in identifying ways for providers to grow their business.

Another helpful feature that improves business practices is the addition of self-pay fee schedules. Managers no longer have to maintain extensive Excel sheets that need to be updated and distributed on a regular basis. Now, when a fee schedule changes, accessing the PowerServer RIS/PACS to make the necessary alterations makes the new pricing structure automatically available to appropriate staff members. This new addition improves customer service and streamlines billing procedures because it eliminates the manual process of calculating discounted prices for cash patients. Lastly, the newly added block time entry is an intuitive feature that allows management or users that have appropriate rights to block time entry of modalities and multiple facilities for hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly blocking all from one screen.

"The new features in PowerServer RIS/PACS 5.0, were determined after careful analysis of client recommendations,” said Vijay Ramanathan, president and CEO of RamSoft. "Our goal is to continually improve our customers' workflow and provide our customers with a competitive advantage to thrive in these challenging times.”

PowerServer RIS/PACS is a full-featured, fully customizable, web-based application running on a single server and database. The application supports all modalities and is designed to be a complete management and diagnostic solution for busy radiology practices. The included referring physician portal is a flashed-based, platform-independent program that works on any operating system wherever there is an Internet connection.

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