Founded nearly 25 years ago and based in Cincinnati, ProScan Imaging is one of the largest privately held teleradiology companies in the world. ProScan provides teleradiology services for more than 300 locations across North America and around the globe. In addition, the company owns and operates 26 outpatient imaging centers in seven states, and WorldCare Clinical, which collects and assesses medical images in support of clinical research trials.
Central Imaging Platform Streamlines Complex Environment
Due to historical efforts to accommodate both staff and customers, in 2004 the ProScan family of companies employed three different PACS solutions from three different vendors. This complex environment presented many technical and maintenance challenges, and required staff to be trained and proficient on multiple systems.
After evaluating several offerings in its search for a single, unified PACS, ProScan selected IntelePACS from Intelerad and deployed the system in 2006. Today ProScan’s 30 radiologists rely exclusively on IntelePACS to read more than 350,000 studies every year.
“The IntelePACS solution really rose to the top,” said ProScan President Mike O’Brien. “To say it is important is an understatement. IntelePACS is critical to our ability to achieve the high-quality level of service that we deliver every day.”
Ease of Use, Automated Workflow Enhance Productivity
By replacing multiple existing systems with IntelePACS, ProScan provided its radiologists a single, easy-to-use enterprise platform to drive performance across multiple sites. IntelePACS’ rich automated workflow features and the system’s high performance have greatly enhanced radiologist productivity.
Malcolm Shupeck, M.D., a ProScan radiologist, cites increased diagnostic workflow efficiency as a major advantage of using IntelePACS. He credits the dictation module and worklist feature as key to simplifying the management and distribution of large volumes of studies. “Using IntelePACS, I’ve been able to increase my productivity, probably in the 10 to 20 percent range,” he said.
ProScan’s radiologists also appreciate the system’s DICOM viewer, InteleViewer. “While there are many viewer options in the world, this is definitely one of the best,” said O’Brien. “Our team finds it to have the feature set and ease-of-use that they need in order to deliver great medicine on time and reliably.”
High Satisfaction Rates
The patients that ProScan serves confirm that the company delivers on those priorities — ProScan has a very high 99.7 percent patient satisfaction rate. “IntelePACS is an important component of our end-to-end technology solution set that is driving high satisfaction results from patients and referring physicians,” said O’Brien.
ProScan radiologists are also highly satisfied with their company’s choice of PACS. The time-saving benefits of using IntelePACS contribute directly to decreased turnaround time and increased quality of patient care. “With IntelePACS, we are able to identify and address the highest-priority items,” Shupeck said. “Also, dictation is much faster, more accurate and fewer corrections are needed.”
IntelePACS Enables Collaboration Across Multiple Sites
IntelePACS has played a significant role in improving collaboration among the company’s highly trained and geographically distributed subspecialist radiologists. Its instant messaging features and high-performance image delivery across distributed networks enable ProScan’s radiologists to easily collaborate, even across disparate physical locations and time zones.
“In our practice, we have a number of radiologists who are reading off site, some of them continents away,” said Shupeck. “With IntelePACS, we’re able to interact with them just as we would a colleague right in the next room. We can involve a broader range of specialists and include their input, without compromising efficiency or turnaround.”
Anywhere, Anytime Access Provides Huge Benefit
Intelerad’s architecture makes IntelePACS a portable solution, enabling ProScan’s radiologists to read studies from any location with the same superior user experience. This is especially important for radiologists who move between imaging centers during the course of a day, and when radiologists read studies from home for urgent case coverage.
“The mobility and flexibility of the IntelePACS platform is extremely helpful with regard to all the operational needs that we have,” said O’Brien. “It’s also not unusual for our radiologists to be reading from home on the weekends or even in the evening for urgent case coverage.”
Strong Vendor Relationship Key to Success
More than seven years after deploying Intelerad’s solution, O’Brien continues to be impressed by the company, its people and its products. He described the relationship with Intelerad as based on mutual respect, and among the best of any of the company’s business partners.
“There is no question that Intelerad was the right choice,” O’Brien said. “To be so positive about a product and a vendor, after more than seven years and millions of radiology studies — that says it all.”
July 25, 2024 
