Ideas in Hospital-Based Imaging

Two Hospitals Choose Quantum for Direct Digital
NCHL and GE Launch New Leadership Institute

Two Hospitals Choose Quantum for Direct Digital

by Cat Vasko

Quantum Medical Imaging, Long Island, NY, won two new installations in August for its dual-panel Q-Rad-Digital System, which includes Canon digital panels. New Britain General Hospital, New Britain, Conn, chose the manufacturer’s floor-mounted configuration, while St Anthony’s Hospital, Effingham, Ill, chose the ceiling-mounted version.

At New Britain, the Q-Rad-Digital floor-mounted system was installed with the Canon dual-panel DR receptor solution and the TechVision complete two-way generator integration and image preview. TechVision’s two-way generator communication eliminates trips back and forth between the operator control panel and the patient; the operator is able to adjust exposure parameters tube-side as well as at the panel, giving technologists the choice to remain at the patient’s side if need be.

Within 6 to 9 seconds, the technologist is able to view the x-ray directly on TechVision’s in-room color touch panel, which is mounted on the x-ray source tube assembly, allowing them to determine the quality assurance decision prior to repositioning the patient. The floor-mounted system also offers the versatility of a deluxe tube stand, giving extended freedom of movement of the tube assembly. Even weight-bearing, cross-table, and off-table studies are facilitated by the system’s range of motion and flexibility.

The ceiling-mounted system, by contrast, uses a tiered telescoping column with overhead horizontal and transverse track to offer the same flexibility, irrespective of the difficulty of the procedure. “With this configuration, St Anthony’s will experience an increase in patient care, in addition to increasing their patient throughput,” said David Wiser, director of national sales for Quantum.

St Anthony’s has been making the transition to filmless imaging since May of this year, implementing a PACS for the first time in July. The installation of Quantum’s DR system is the next step in taking all of the hospital’s imaging into the digital era. “Those who have worked with the new [digital imaging] system have expressed how easy it is to use, and how wonderful it is not to have to wait for x-ray films to be found in our archives,” noted Robin Brown, imaging manager at St Anthony’s, upon implementation of the PACS system. “It has been a seamless transition.”

NCHL and GE Launch New Leadership Institute

by C. Vasko

Garrett Ogden

At the seventh annual Forum of the American College of Radiology (ACR), Reston, Va, held in late July, the word on everyone’s lips was leadership: How is it lacking, at both the national and state levels? How can it be nurtured and developed? What are strategies for identifying and recruiting leaders?

The debate was perfectly timed to coincide with the establishment of a new Institute for Transformational Healthcare Leadership, announced August 29. The brainchild of a collaboration between the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL), Chicago, and GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis, the Institute for Transformational Healthcare Leader-ship will develop an integrated portfolio of educational offerings designed to create and sustain leadership excellence across the health care system.

“Fundamentally, the goals are to better prepare leadership in the health care industry to deal with the pressing challenges of not just today, but tomorrow, especially with some of the likely changes in health care, reforms that might come from a coverage perspective, and so on,” explained Garrett Ogden, practice leader, GE Healthcare Performance Solutions. “We see challenges ahead for people in this industry, and they need the skills to tackle those challenges.”

ACR Board of Chancellors Chair Arl Van Moore, Jr, MD, echoed this sentiment when addressing members of the Forum. “One of the big challenges in radiology today is the lack of—or a complete void in—systematic leadership training for those who want to and can lead in radiology,” he said. “We need to have a strong bench as radiology moves into the future.”

The goal of the Institute, as Ogden explains it, is to quickly develop a comprehensive curriculum for every step of the health care professional’s career.

“When we talk about leadership, we look at it in a broad sense,” he said. “We look at how the system identifies and manages talent, and then we look at talent strategically. We also see an industry that doesn’t have the right skills available for people as they progress throughout their careers. Many people don’t get formal development opportunities in areas like giving effective feedback, reconciling peoples’ different work styles, and so on.”

Each program to be rolled out by the new Institute will feature a blended learning approach, combining prework, an event, and postwork. Future classes will involve classroom training for teams of executives spread out over several months, giving participants ample opportunity to test their new skills in the everyday work environment. “The teams can also get input from other leading health care organizations that are attending, and there will be classes at the individual level on change management,” Ogden said.

Apart from their collaboration with the Institute, both GE Healthcare Per-formance Solutions and the NCHL will continue to develop their respective business initiatives, with the NCHL focusing on its Leadership Excellence Networks, among other projects, and GE Healthcare developing a diverse range of professional services for health care providers.

“This is an opportunity where the world’s number one company for leadership development has partnered with a group that’s expert in building health care leadership competencies,” said Ogden. “That fulfills a great market need that’s out there.”