Over 90 Total Lots Up For Auction at One Location - WA 04/08

Starpoint Global Provides New Spin on PACS Conversion

by Barbara Kram, Editor | April 25, 2008
Starpoint Global Services
(Starpoint Global Services, Chapel Hill, NC) - A new solution to the ever-present woes of film storage and digitization for Radiology departments and practices has arrived in the form of Starpoint's X-ray On Demand. X-ray On Demand (XOD) is a unique solution offered by Starpoint Global Services that bridges the physical and digital radiology divide. Patient films are stored off-site, then requested via telephone, fax or via a Web-portal called RSWeb, and then pulled at the Starpoint Information Management Center. The films are digitized and formatted into a "DICOM" (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) image that can be read and archived by standard PACS, regardless of the vendor. This digitized image is then window leveled and combined with an indexing of patient demographic and exam information, encrypted for security, and sent directly into a hospital's PACS over a secure connection using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). They are then available for analysis and comparison with existing digital images from within the hospital's PACS.

Through combining the world of physical off-site secure storage with Digitizing On-Demand capabilities, Starpoint guarantees 30 minute electronic delivery of any film study 24 hours a day directly to PACS. That means immediate access to any prior reference reads and keeping radiologists where they are most productive, at their stations interpreting digital images. And, as in most cases, the benefits of PACS, both financial and care-based, are not achieved until a solution is created for the existing film situation. Through XOD, hospital and practices can expect to see the following improvements:
· Consolidation of multiples storage sites and remote clinics into one seamless library
·Full and complete inventory report of all jackets
·Erases the need to purchase an in-house digitizer
·Guaranteed 30 minute digital delivery of any study with 24 hour coverage
·Elimination of misreads through an all digital reading environment
·Reassignment of staff to non-film related duties
·Reclamation of current film library space for future expansion

Finally, through barcode labeling and a unique RSSQL interface, each jacket is indexed according to Name, Date of Birth, Medical Record Number and Last Date of Film Service; while also constantly audited per HIPAA specifications. At anytime, a client can login to a secure web portal and see exactly where in the warehouse any jacket is located. When the time comes to purge jackets per state retention requirements, Starpoint efficiently, and at no cost, provides purge lists, separates and destroys film, and issues a certificate of destruction to the client. Even Release of Information is made simple with an in-house department setup to assist in responding to patients.

Founded in 1989, Starpoint Global Services is a Chapel Hill, NC based company providing storage, imaging and destruction services to healthcare facilities throughout the US. With over 1,500,000 film jackets within their nationwide centers, Starpoint provides proven and secure storage and access to any film, at any time, day or night.