At CAP ’12, DR Systems to Exhibit Pathology Enterprise Imaging Solution

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At this week’s CAP ’12 annual conference of the College of American Pathologists, DR Systems is demonstrating its Unity™ enterprise imaging solution for pathology.

“Just as our radiology and cardiology solutions have been designed to the specifications of clinicians in those fields, our pathology imaging solution has been built according to input from pathologists”

CAP ’12 is held Sept. 9-12 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. The DR Systems exhibit is located at Booth #814 in the Connection Café (Douglas Pavilion).

The Unity pathology solution is being shown for the first time as a work-in-progress. It is unique to pathology in its scope, level of integration, and functionality. The system is based on the proven strengths of the DR Systems radiology and cardiology imaging solutions, and adapts and amplifies those strengths for pathology.

The system makes it possible, within one integrated system, to view images, create reports, distribute images and reports, access patient demographics for multiple uses, view co-pays, and verify insurance, among other activities.

“Just as our radiology and cardiology solutions have been designed to the specifications of clinicians in those fields, our pathology imaging solution has been built according to input from pathologists,” said Murray Reicher, M.D., F.A.C.R., DR Systems’ co-founder and chairman. “Our system is made to enhance the efficiency of pathology workflow while also improving the efficiency of the entire enterprise through integration.”

The Unity approach makes it possible for the same unified system to serve the entire imaging enterprise — radiology, cardiology, anatomic path, intra-operative imaging, and endoscopy. All images and associated information are centralized in a single repository.

The advantages of DR Systems’ widely praised integrated systems include:

Avoiding multiple vendor systems and the associated need for multiple interfaces, maintenance contracts, and vendor relationships
Just one user interface to learn and password to remember

Some of the capabilities of the new pathology system include:

Create a complete patient record for any type of anatomic pathology exam. This includes the ability to store all patient demographics, billing information, billing codes, co-pays, co-insurance, and other information for all pre-set pathology exam types.
Create bi-directional interfaces with HIS and EMR systems.
Store protocols per pathology exam type – for example, breast, colon, lung, thyroid, etc.
Store documents and forms that can be associated with specific exam types.
Create and store report templates per exam type.
Automatically import data into reports, including anything in the Unity database or any information provided by technologists.
Send information to cassette printers.
Produce barcoded labels for slide trays.

The new system includes complete support of all clinical activities at the grossing station, including dictation, speech recognition, audio macros, report templates, specimen photography, etc. It also provides pathology worklist management with filters, case assignment, restricted exam access when needed, sorting, searching, teaching files, peer review, and critical results tracking.

For pathologists themselves, the workflow includes:

Multiple reporting preferences per reader related to presentation, macros, speech recognition, and more.
Ability to view all other imaging exams and meaningful use data for any patient while viewing pathology images.
Direct link to a high-definition camera/microscope so user can view slides on a microscope ocular device or high-resolution monitor.
Ability to store any viewed image with a click of a mouse or depress of a foot pedal.
Real time screen-sharing with others, if needed.

Among several post-reporting features, reports contain hyperlinks that enable viewing of the key pathology images via the Internet from any location. The images are viewed using a zero-download DICOM viewer and can be accessed on a personal computer, smart phone, or tablet computer.

Other features of the pathology system include:

Output to billing systems
Eligibility and authorization checking via a Web-based clearinghouse
Complete management reporting
Audit trails
Filter for research or teaching exams via text content of notes

About DR Systems, Inc.

DR Systems is the leading independent provider of enterprise imaging and information management systems for integrated healthcare networks, hospitals, and diagnostic imaging centers. Over two decades, the company has helped more than 600 hospitals and imaging centers lower their cost of operation by improving management of patient information, eliminating ancillary IT systems and interfaces and increasing workflow speed, while also providing better clinical quality and patient care.

For more information, call 800-794-5955 or visit www.drsys.com.