UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA MEDICAL CENTER SELECTS ALGOTEC FOR MAJOR WEB BASED ICU PACS INSTALLATION

Algotec, the Duluth, Ga. based Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) vendor, has been selected by University of Virginia Medical Center (UVaMC) to develop a Web-based installation linking its intensive care units (ICUs) and Emergency Room (ER) with its expansive medical imaging department.

According to Spencer Gay, M.D., professor of radiology, “After considering a number of vendors, we selected Algotec because the company offered a superior, technologically advanced and robust Web based system with an excellent price performance ratio. We also were impressed with the open architecture, Algotec’s track record on customer support and their willingness to work with us to customize features based on our specific needs.”

At the time of the purchase, University of Virginia Medical Center had been using Algotec’s Web-based access engine, MediSurf, for several years and had been extremely satisfied with the product. “In all that time, it never failed us once,” Gay said. “This was another key reason University of Virginia decided on Algotec.” In 1997, Algotec was the first company to receive FDA clearance for a Web-based image distribution and display system and has over 140 installations of this system worldwide.

The new system is intended to improve efficiency and streamline the work of medical personnel at UVAMC involved in the care and diagnosis of the ICU patients. This system combines Algotec’s MediSurf Web server and access engine with MediStore, the company’s multi-tier, multi-media data repository. Integration with the SMS RIS is achieved via MediLink, Algotec's configurable interface engine. A selection of dataflow and workflow tools from Algotec's MediFlow streamline departmental functions. MediPrime, Algotec's new reading station, will be the radiologist's reading tool, while doctors at the ICUs and ER will review images on standard PCs using standard Web browsers.

Similarly, any doctor within or outside the hospital can use a standard Web browser to access and review any image on the system. The system therefore combines the functionality of both a PACS and a wide area teleradiology system.

“That’s one of the most important features of an image management and teleradiology system, “ comments Dr. Gay, who has played a major role in the University’s PACS implementation process over the years. “Using Web browsers for on site and remote viewing allowed us to cut costs significantly.”

The browser-based viewing application has many useful features, according to Gay. For example, doctors have the ability to compare two chest films on a single 24-inch monitor with a 1600 by 1024 resolution. Unlike most other systems, the tool bar interface can be hidden to maximize the viewing area further. The wavelet compression used by the system is unique in the market. It automatically determines compression levels for any modality and body part so that images are received virtually visually lossless. “Dr. Gay notes that key criteria for selecting the new PACS were that it would be user friendly, reliable, customizable and easily upgradeable. “Our new system excels in all these areas,” he says. “It is so intuitive that many of our doctors began using it before receiving their formal training.”

The University of Virginia Medical Center is a fully accredited 673 bed Medical Center, serving as tertiary referral facility for central and western Virginia and parts of North Carolina and West Virginia. The Medical Center employs 450 faculty physicians, 657 residents and fellows, 1,300 professional nurses, and 4,000 full-time support staff. The major services of the institution are delivered from a contiguous campus that is approximately one-half mile square. Increasingly, specialized and primary care services are delivered from satellite locations throughout central Virginia.

Algotec Systems Ltd. is a developer and system integrator of Web-based image management, archiving, processing and communication systems sold under the name ImagiNet. With headquarters in Israel and fully owned marketing and sales subsidiaries in the US (Duluth, GA), France (Paris), Germany (Wiesbaden) and Italy (Milan), the company's products are installed in more than 800 healthcare institutions worldwide.

Algotec's ImagiNet family of solutions includes the ProVision - a 3D multi modality processing workstation, MediPrime - a radiology reading and reporting station, MediSurf - a Web based image and data access and display engine, MediStore - a multi media, multi tier archiving system, MediFlow - image management software, MediLink - a configurable interface to healthcare information systems, Med-e-Mail - an automatic email reporting system of key images and reports to referring physicians, and CD-Surf - a self playing, soft copy (CD) media to substitute the films that are now given to patients and referring physicians.