Östergötland is one of Sectras first and latest digitization projects, and provides an example of the long-term customer relations that Sectra cultivates.
It includes the radiology departments at the hospitals in Linköping, Norrköping and Motala, and at the healthcare centers in Mjölby and Finspång. In total, approximately 200,000 radiology examinations are performed annually in the county. Since spring 2002, the radiology departments of the region have been completely film- and paper-free, using Sectra's radiology IT system.
It all started in the early 1990's when Dr Göran Karner, senior radiologist at the radiology department in Mjölby, met Torbjörn Kronander, President of Sectra Imtec AB. The vision of a film-free, countywide radiology department was born.
The development of the system for managing radiology images was carried out in close cooperation between Sectra and the Mjölby staff, resulting in the first completely film-free radiology department in Sweden in 1995.
Linköping University Hospital
In the spring of 2000, Sectra signed a contract with Östergötland County Council regarding the digitization of all radiology operations within the county. Today all hospitals are connected in a digital workflow, and a radiologist at one hospital can easily access images taken at any of the other hospitals.
"The PACS has made the work of the radiologists much more efficient in that we are now able to review images at all the sites simultaneously, regardless of where the images were taken." Dr Gunnar Wiklund, Senior Radiologist and Project Manager at the University Hospital of Linköping, comments.
Östergötland County and Sectra have worked together for more than a decade. The film-free radiology department was born in the county, and the technology and working methods have developed considerably since then. Sectra's philosophy even since the beginning has been to work closely with the customer in digitization projects, and in product development. User groups, ongoing training and personal contact between end-users and Sectra engineers ensure that Sectra's systems help solve the problems healthcare providers face today and tomorrow.
