Siemens debuts consulting offering
Siemens Healthcare has developed the Act on Radiology consulting model that seeks to help improve workflows in radiology departments.
Based on models for industry processes, a Siemens team evaluates the maturity level of clinical processes in a hospital radiology department or radiology practice. For example, the team evaluates the efficiency of workflows from admissions to a completed patient report. With the help of a database containing international guidelines and the reference values from leading hospitals, Siemens consultants then develop suitable measures for improvement.
According to the Erlangen, Germany-based company, more than 20 European hospitals have deployed the consulting approach for process improvements in the clinical areas of stroke, cardiac insufficiency and acute coronary syndrome.
Act on Radiology is supported by an interdisciplinary team from Siemens: physicians specializing in radiology, strategy and workflow consultants, as well as economists, IT experts, engineers and medical technicians.
In eight days, two Siemens consultants analyze the processes in a hospital radiology department or in a radiology practice. On a one to five scale, they determine the maturity level of complex clinical processes, using more than 500 individual criteria. These criteria included: Are the imaging systems used to such capacity that the department works efficiently? How long does it generally take until reports are available?
After the status-quo evaluation and a results report, the consultants develop measures for the customer to optimize workflows in a measurable, sustainable way. For example, it is profitable for many departments to introduce a review system, in the form of controlled random samples, to secure the quality of findings, Siemens explained.
Siemens has applied Act on Radiology at the first customer sites, including the University Hospital Göttingen in Germany. The company plans to complete its Act on consulting approach with other relevant care areas, and is currently developing a model for process improvement in oncology.
The model is not commercially available in all countries.
Based on models for industry processes, a Siemens team evaluates the maturity level of clinical processes in a hospital radiology department or radiology practice. For example, the team evaluates the efficiency of workflows from admissions to a completed patient report. With the help of a database containing international guidelines and the reference values from leading hospitals, Siemens consultants then develop suitable measures for improvement.
According to the Erlangen, Germany-based company, more than 20 European hospitals have deployed the consulting approach for process improvements in the clinical areas of stroke, cardiac insufficiency and acute coronary syndrome.
Act on Radiology is supported by an interdisciplinary team from Siemens: physicians specializing in radiology, strategy and workflow consultants, as well as economists, IT experts, engineers and medical technicians.
In eight days, two Siemens consultants analyze the processes in a hospital radiology department or in a radiology practice. On a one to five scale, they determine the maturity level of complex clinical processes, using more than 500 individual criteria. These criteria included: Are the imaging systems used to such capacity that the department works efficiently? How long does it generally take until reports are available?
After the status-quo evaluation and a results report, the consultants develop measures for the customer to optimize workflows in a measurable, sustainable way. For example, it is profitable for many departments to introduce a review system, in the form of controlled random samples, to secure the quality of findings, Siemens explained.
Siemens has applied Act on Radiology at the first customer sites, including the University Hospital Göttingen in Germany. The company plans to complete its Act on consulting approach with other relevant care areas, and is currently developing a model for process improvement in oncology.
The model is not commercially available in all countries.