Blood and urine tests, ultrasound, X-rays, lung function tests, etc.: It is no exaggeration to say that Diagnostiek voor U in the Netherlands covers the entire diagnostic spectrum. About eight million investigations a year are performed and evaluated at in-house laboratories and at the 44 sites in and around Eindhoven. Reliability, speed, and continuous process optimization are the requirements for successfully managing this volume. For this reason, the Dutch company also opted for JiveX Enterprise PACS when the existing PACS was due for replacement.
A visit to the ultramodern laboratories of Diagnostiek voor U is cannot fail to impress: The entire process is automated and well ahead of its time. Test tubes are identified by their barcodes and moved to the correct analytical instrument on a conveyor belt. Automation and use of the latest technologies ensures that Diagnostiek voor U can process large numbers of samples at very high speeds daily. These samples come not only from the southeast Brabant region but from healthcare facilities across the Netherlands. “Thanks to our exceptional logistical network, a primary care physician who sends a test tube of blood in today will have the result early tomorrow at around 8:00 a.m.,” explains Timo van den Berg, divisional manager for digitalization and ICMT.
Future-proof PACS
Along with laboratory tests, his employer also offers X-ray examinations, ultrasound examinations, lung function tests, echocardiograms, ergometry, and eye examinations. Every year about 17,000 X-ray examinations and 4,000 radiological ultrasound examinations are carried out. “Patients are referred to us by their primary care physician. We prepare the diagnoses and send the results, that is, the radiological images and findings, back to the primary care physician,” according to Timo van den Berg.
To further optimize findings, image distribution, and communication with the referring physicians, those responsible decided to invite tenders for the PACS when the contract for the old system ended. Nicky de Jonge, project manager and clinical information scientist at Diagnostiek voor U, first examined the entire workflow for diagnostic radiology to prepare a tender profile. Above all, she wanted to hear from users what they consider to be important. “We gave all professional groups the opportunity to share with us what they expect from the PACS, what they think is missing, and what they like. We used the responses to prepare a requirements package for the PACS.”
Putting it to the test
After the initial sorting process, five PACS providers remained from the long list and they were sent the requirements catalog. After evaluating the feedback, three systems were shortlisted. The companies were invited to demonstrate how their systems functioned, what opportunities they offered, and how they are operated. Nicky de Jonge: “The demos give us a good initial overview. But what is important is how the systems work in routine practice. To see this, we visited several healthcare facilities where the solutions were already being used. We were able to exchange ideas with users and were given valuable tips and info.” At the end of this long and elaborate process we opted for JiveX Enterprise PACS, which is sold in the Netherlands by the VISUS partner Alphatron Medical.
The decision fell in favor of JiveX for a number of reasons, Timo van den Berg explains, “For a start, the technology is already established. We could see that JiveX functions well in many different areas across healthcare. This creates trust. Alphatron Medical is also a supplier for the Twiin project that regulates the exchange of radiological imaging data across the country. We want to share our radiological images and reports quickly, reliably, and completely with hospitals so that they no longer have to prepare them internally. They must be able to rely on being able to use our information immediately.”
Link with database and archive
Another requirement from the diagnostic experts was the option of linking the current database to JiveX so that existing medical imaging data did not have to be transferred to a new database. And they also had to be able to continue using the existing VNA:
“To reduce costs, we wanted to retain our existing archive so the new PACS had to be able to communicate with the archive. Not a problem for JiveX,” elaborates Timo van den Berg.
In 2023 Diagnostiek voor U put the JiveX Enterprise PACS into operation. “Everyone is very satisfied with the new technical options, the full integration with other programs, and of course the ability to exchange images directly and securely through Twiin. The longer we use JiveX, the more workflows we will be able to optimize so that our employees, the healthcare facilities we work with as well as patients will reap even more benefits,” concludes Nicky de Jonge.
