Increased Productivity for New Jersey Imaging Center Group Using Agfa's IMPAX RIS

Hackensack Radiology Group experiences improved billing turnaround time, faster patient scheduling, and more convenient access to scans and reports.

• Press release
• Ridgefield Park, NJ
• September 23, 2005 18:00

Hackensack Radiology Group (HRG), of Hackensack, New Jersey, has seen a boost in productivity and in quality of services after going live just a few months ago with Agfa's IMPAX RIS (Radiology Information System) solution for Imaging Centers in July 2005. The RIS is integrated to HRG's existing IMPAX PACS. HRG is a clinical trial site for Agfa's fully integrated RIS/PACS solution for Imaging Centers into the United States, and has assisted Agfa with enhancing the RIS solution for the U.S. Imaging Center market. Agfa's RIS is already installed at more than 700 sites worldwide.

Hackensack Radiology Group is a four-site imaging center practice with remote affiliations including Hackensack University Medical Center supporting the Northern New Jersey/New York Metropolitan area and conducts approximately 60,000 outpatient imaging procedures per year.

During the first months of the trial HRG experienced major productivity gains:

Improved billing turnaround time

Thanks to automated insurance pre-certification workflow, the gains in staff time spent on billing tasks has been reduced by up to 15 hours a week through the elimination of manual tracking and reports to verify authorization. Streamlined patient scheduling, easy access to documents and faster report distribution, the elimination of paper reporting and tracking, as well as the automation of insurance verification, authorization and re-authorization processes, have contributed to the impressive increase in productivity at HRG.

Easier access to scans and reports

Additionally, HRG can now more easily access and view scanned documents across the practice, including from within IMPAX PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System). The functionality for scanning and document management is embedded throughout the RIS and has eliminated the need for faxing and the potential for lost documents across sites and to the external billing services provider.

Faster scheduling

Among the benefits HRG saw immediately was a faster scheduling process that easily allows appointments to be made, reserved, changed, confirmed, registered and viewed across sites. Additional features include multiple appointments linking, blocking of cells and the ability to reduce errors such as double booking.

"Throughout the clinical trial process Agfa made sure our staff had a smooth transition and was extremely fast and flexible with any additional needs we had," explained Dr. Andrew Osiason, HRG radiologist. "I am very happy with the productivity improvements we have experienced in such a short amount of time, and I expect a lot more in the coming months as more enhancements are added."