Cardiology Patients At Baystate To Benefit From New VERICIS Imaging System

SPRINGFIELD — Baystate Medical Center’s Cardiology Division has purchased and installed the new VERICIS system from Camtronics Medical Systems, Ltd., which will optimize cardiac care quality and delivery for patients at the hospital through advanced cardiovascular image and information management technology.

“Baystate Medical Center is the only hospital in Western Mass. to introduce this new technology in its Cardiology Division where it has great benefit for both the patient and physician,” said Betty LaRue, director, Cardiopulmonary Services.

“The new system will streamline access to patient studies and reports, decrease report turnaround time, and provide better service to our patients and referring physicians,” she added.

The VERICIS system acquires, stores and distributes digital images from Baystate Medical Center’s cardiac catheterization and echocardiography laboratories and connects and provides images on the hospital’s clinical information system.

Once a patient has an echocardiogram or cardiac catheterization, the images are sent instantly to a computer server and are accessible for review by the cardiologist, expediting the patient experience by allowing for faster clinical interventions when necessary. With its direct to digital connection, VERICIS eliminates the problems associated with reviewing, transporting, cataloging, duplicating, and storing videotape. The system also allows for the convenience of viewing archived studies and reports for side-by-side comparison with current data.

The VERICIS system also allows the cardiologist to sit at a single workstation, pull up the information that exists on a patient at that location and render an interpretation and report immediately during one session on-line. By eliminating the dictation, editing, and review cycle of filing a patient report, VERICIS reduces report turnaround time from days to minutes.

Dr. Marc Schweiger, director of Baystate Medical Center’s Cardiac Cath Lab, along with Dr. Leng Jiang, director, Noninvasive Cardiology at the hospital, noted the ease of use of the new system and said it has significantly enhanced their ability to deliver care in the most efficient manner possible.

“It is much more efficient and quicker for everyone involved by reviewing the imaging and completing the report digitally, as opposed to using time consuming videotape and the former typing system. It benefits all the doctors who are caring for the patient. They can check the report from the computer immediately after the report is done, and they can even view the echo imaging from the computer when needed,” said Jiang.

“The ease of now being able to retrieve angiograms instantaneously, instead of having to look for them and then load them, is a tremendous time saver,” added Schweiger. He said the new system also makes it possible to review digital images throughout Baystate Health System, as well as from other hospitals.

Both cardiologists agreed that patients will benefit from a more immediate diagnosis and treatment as report time is shortened.

“By purchasing a product that supports the entire Cardiology Division, the level of automated data entry has increased, reducing the potential of data entry errors,” LaRue added.

The purchase of the new VERICIS system was made possible by a generous gift from the family of the late Dr. Jesse Hafer Jr. Hafer was a respected cardiologist at Baystate Medical Center for more than 30 years where from 1969 to 1997 he directed the Coronary Care Unit.

“Gifts like those from the Hafers make a difference throughout Baystate Health System by providing funding for advances that would not otherwise be possible,” said Stephen L. Tanne, executive director of the Baystate Health Foundation and vice president of Development for Baystate Health System.

“Dr. Hafer, who built a loyal following among thousands of patients he cared for over the years, always put the needs of his patients first, and his family’s generous gift will benefit new cardiology patients for many years to come at Baystate,” he added.

Baystate Medical Center’s Cardiology Service offers state-of-the art diagnostic and surgical procedures, including bypass surgery, balloon angioplasty, cardiac electrophysiology, and non-invasive testing programs, The hospital’s highly skilled staff and the specialized equipment of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU), Progressive Care Unit, Telemetry units, and its Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, Heart Failure Program and other rehabilitation and prevention programs further expand the scope of care for cardiology patients throughout Western Mass.

VERICIS is the first information management system to capture patient data across the continuum of cardiovascular care.

Camtronics Medical Systems, Ltd, is a industry leading VERICIS Cardiovascular Information System provides single-point access to complete cardiovascular patient data, including cardiology office practice needs.