Viztek Debuts Turnaround Time Tracking Feature for Opal-RAD PACS -

Complements a Growing Range of Teleradiology Business Features

Raleigh, NC—Viztek, LLC, medical imaging provider, debuts an innovative exam turnaround time (TAT) management feature for its Opal-RAD PACS. Designed to streamline the workflow of teleradiology practices, the feature prioritizes exams based on a client’s contracted time to perform study reading. The feature uses a color-based system to notify radiologists of the remaining time before a scheduled reading must be completed. After users input reading time parameters for each facility, worklist population and priority level is fully automatic.

“Contracted teleradiologists are high growth areas in medical imaging,” says Steve Deaton, VP of Sales for Viztek. “Every facility has its own parameters and sometimes multiple parameters for exam turnaround. Managing workflow based on these deadlines can be challenging. Viztek is committed to making its PACS a valuable tool for all users and continues to incorporate innovative new features. Our TAT functionality was requested by our customers and represents an important management tool that will enhance teleradiologists’ relationships with their own clients.”

Using the feature, studies are assigned a green, yellow, or red label for normal, medium or rush reading timeframes respectively. Green depicts the most amount of time allotted to read a study; as unread exams age the color transitions to yellow and red–yellow is a medium amount of time, and a red label means there is the least amount of time given to read a study.

An integrated dashboard displays the unread studies in each category. Studies that are near the allotted reading time and flagged red are forced to the top of all integrated worklists for radiologists to prioritize. Other dashboard indicators provide real-time statistics for the number of unread studies at each TAT level.

The new Opal-RAD PACS TAT feature is one of the many features that make the application an ideal choice for teleradiology groups. Robb Kolb, EVP of The Radiology Group (TRG), offered key input for the development of the new Opal-RAD feature. TRG reads for dozens of sites nationwide ranging from Urgent Care to full hospital radiology service coverage. TAT Management allows TRG to meet and exceed customer expectations, while ensuring a competitive rate schedule.