Radiology at Södersjukhuset in Stockholm, Sweden, has been completely film and paper free since April 2002.
Södersjukhuset is the largest emergency hospital in Northern Europe. About 70% of the examinations performed in the BDC® (Image Diagnostic Center) are emergency examinations. Emergency care imposes unique demands on radiology departments in terms of speed, availability, and efficiency.
BDC is located in the heart of Södersjukhuset, next to the emergency department, in order to provide better and more efficient patient care. Supported by cutting edge Sectra PACS and RIS, the entire workflow has been streamlined, from scheduling and examination to image reviewing and patient information management.
Dr. Lena Cavallin, Head of Department
"We are very pleased with the performance of Sectra PACS. The digitization enhanced efficiency and availability. The difference was dramatic. We were back to normal production levels only two days after the system was deployed, which was far better then expected." Lena Cavallin, Head of Department, Södersjukhuset comments.
From the outset Sectra was managing the entire digitization project; managing everything from delivering modalities and integrating the RIS and the PACS with the hospital's other IT support systems to planning and monitoring the entire digitization process.
"It was a tremendous challenge to manage a project of this magnitude with such broad spectrum of medical equipment that had to be integrated. The modular and flexible design of Sectra PACS and RIS enabled us to custom fit a solution that is optimized for the workflow at BDC." says Hans Danielsson, Project Manager at Sectra.
The project at Södersjukhuset went far beyond digitizing BDC. There are three other smaller radiology departments in Nynäshamn, Handen, and Nacka, south of Stockholm, which were digitized eighteen months before BDC. The four sites have now been linked to form a single large, virtual radiology department, sharing long-term archives and providing mutual access to information.
"The successful change from traditional analog radiology to digitized radiology was laregely due to Sectra's thorough understanding of the radiology process and the problems radiology departments face when carrying out projects of this nature. Sectra demonstrated great skill in managing a comprehensive project like this one, involving a great many vendors, hospital departments, and personnel." Claes Kilander, Chief Radiologist and Project Manger at Södersjukhuset, comments.
