Cerner Delivers First Fully Integrated RIS/PACS Solution; American Radiology Services Using Single, Integrated Engine for Improved Patient Flow and Turnaround Time.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 28, 2000

In an important announcement for radiology information management, Cerner Corporation announced today the first implementation of a solution that fully integrates a radiology information system (RIS), a picture archival and communications system (PACS) and workflow management from a single supplier.

American Radiology Services (ARS) of Baltimore is using Cerner's Envoi(TM) integrated image and information management solutions. When used with integrated voice recognition, ARS radiologists can interpret, dictate, review, and approve reports in minutes.

ARS is one of the nation's largest comprehensive providers of radiology services. The company serves 14 hospitals and more than 20 multi-modality offices, performing 1.2 million studies per year. Cerner's Envoi is a solution set originally from ADAC HCIS, which Cerner acquired in November.

"This final stage in RIS/PACS implementation has allowed ARS to provide a fully integrated scheduling, registration, digital radiograph interpretation and electronic dictation system," said Dr. Edward Steiner, medical director of informatics at ARS. "The embedded web-based image and report distribution system has delighted the radiologists and physicians who participated in the initial rollout. The uniqueness of Cerner's product lies in the single integrated engine which links RIS function, workflow management, and PACS in a seamless environment. This will allow tremendous improvement in patient flow and turnaround time."

"This represents the first time an information technology company has provided an end-to-end, fully integrated solution for RIS and PACS. The installation at ARS is the first RIS/PACS solution anywhere that is RIS-centric," said Bill Waters, vice president at Cerner.

QuadRIS(TM) is the foundation for the Envoi set of solutions, including integrated imaging workstations and archives. Using Envoi, ARS made its White Marsh site filmless in the key digital areas of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR). ARS is poised to take the site filmless for Ultrasound and certain diagnostic procedures using computed radiography (CR).

Using the Cerner solution, ARS provides such services as standard DICOM modality worklist to modalities, comprehensive pre-fetching and auto-routing, and RIS-centric study validation without the need for intermediate broker systems. The enhanced architecture of the QuadRIS database and its integrated services make the additional interfaces typically needed for broker systems unnecessary.

The integrated Envoi solution presents a single virtual database to the user, eliminating the data redundancy and synchronization issues associated with multiple databases. Control of RIS and PACS components and associated workflow is maintained by QuadRIS. Validation services ensure that images acquired are validated based on information in the RIS. Using the DICOM modality worklist, technologists no longer need to input patient demographic and exam information into the modality. Such information is available directly from the RIS and is used to ensure that images can be linked correctly with the RIS data. In addition, efficiency gains are achieved because the technologists no longer need to enter information for each patient.

Using the integrated diagnostic workstations, radiologists are able to retrieve images based on the RIS information rather than on what a stand-alone PACS might indicate. Consequently, the worklist is a true reflection of the state of exams within the institution.

Cerner Corporation (Nasdaq:CERN) (www.cerner.com) is the leading supplier of clinical and management information and knowledge systems to more than 1,200 healthcare organizations worldwide. Cerner's mission is to connect the appropriate persons, knowledge, and resources at the appropriate time and location to achieve the optimal health outcome. The company's vision is to improve the health of communities through innovation and investments in information technology. Cerner strives to transform the healthcare delivery system by increasing the quality of care, improving efficiencies, eliminating medical error and connecting the individual to the system with innovative information solutions. HNA Millennium is Cerner's comprehensive suite of solutions that promote personal and community health management by connecting consumers, clinicians and healthcare organizations into a streamlined, unified single care process. HNA Millennium applications work on a cohesive platform that is open, intelligent and scalable, allowing vital health information to be accessed and shared throughout the healthcare system. Cerner...we make healthcare smarter. The following are trademarks of Cerner: Cerner, Cerner's logo, Envoi, and QuadRIS.

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