West Valley Hospital?s Radiology Department Receives Technology Upgrade

Contact: Angela Ittu, 623-882-1502
05/10/2007

West Valley Hospital is making a technology upgrade that brings improved care and greater convenience to patients in the Southwest Valley. The Picture Archival and Communications System (PACS) will be used for CT, MRI, Ultrasound, X-ray and Nuclear Medicine images that previously were printed out on film. Physicians and employees will now have access to these critical diagnostic tools via computer in their offices and at workstations around the hospital.

?Patients, employees and physicians will no longer have to wait for hard copies of these images and radiology reports to be delivered,? said Rich LeClair, Director of Radiology at West Valley Hospital. ?The images will be sent electronically to a workstation where a radiologist will review them. The reports and images will then be available to physicians who are part of West Valley Hospital?s computer system.

PACS is one of the first steps toward Electronic Medical Records at West Valley Hospital. In the future, all medical information and images that doctors need to provide patients with care will be available electronically. The time and cost savings will be tremendous. The caregivers who need patient medical information will get it more quickly. The sooner they have that information, the sooner an accurate diagnosis and treatment options can be identified. That means patients get better care.

?Advances in technology are improving the way we provide care,? LeClair said. ?Every day, we hear about new techniques to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries.? We will continue to identify and implement upgrades that will help us take better care of our patients.?

About West Valley Hospital
West Valley Hospital is a 131-bed, acute care community hospital in Goodyear, Arizona focused on bringing comprehensive healthcare services to the southwest Valley and designed to provide services of greatest need to the community, from state-of-the-art obstetrics, to medical and surgical services, cardiovascular services, intensive care and a full-service emergency department.

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