Innovation Leads to National Award

Front row: Kendra Leone, Nuance, Deann Toth, PACS Administrator, Samir Patel, M.D. Middle row: Joanne Hunte, Nuance, Shary Meade, PACS Analyst, Michelle Holden Manager HIM Back row: Ray Kiendl, Executive Director of Radiology, Megan Macioce, Transcription Team Leader

Elkhart General Hospital leads the way on a new technology: the Powerscribe 360™ Radiology Dictation System. Elkhart General’s remarkable work led the manufacturer, Nuance Communications, Inc., to honor Elkhart General with the “Voice of the Customer Innovative/Inspiring Use of Technology” Award.

This award recognizes two years of collaboration among Elkhart General’s Radiology Department, Health Information Management, radiologists and cardiologists. They use Powerscribe in all of their CT procedures to standardize documentation, ensure proper coding and track patient intervention. This has been made easier as the system can record various types of voices-a capability much praised by Elkhart’s cardiologists. Elkhart General’s use of Powerscribe saves nearly a tree’s worth of paper every two weeks. This is partially because all CT and nuclear medicine stress tests now use the same template, which is started by a technologist and then read by a cardiologist or radiologist. Such consistency allows radiologists to increase their self-edits: nearly 8 of every 10 cases are transmitted immediately after being read. Even the more complex cases, those sent to back-end transcriptionists, are usually signed off within three hours. All of this means that Elkhart General, through its innovative practices, is making great strides in patient safety, timeliness, appropriateness, cost savings and efficiency.