This Article is From Nov 17, 2010

Navi Mumbai hospital brings hi-tech diagnosis for poorest of poor

Mumbai: Going a step further in providing its patients quality service at affordable rates, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has installed computerized radiography system (CRS) at its Vashi hospital. The system helps the hospital staffers in getting a better view of a patient's anatomy, save time and even adhere to the laid down quality norms.

"As far as quality is concerned, X-ray films we get using CRS are way better than what we would have after using earlier system. The CRS is helping us get minute details of a person's affected body part as it can display even a hairline fracture clearly," Dr Milind Bhanushali, a radiologist with the hospital, said.

In CRS, the medicos can adjust colour scheme of soft copy of a patient's X-ray film. "This facility enables us to study fracture in detail. For instance, if a patient has plaster when exposed to X-ray, then it becomes difficult to highlight the area of interest (affected part of body). In such a case, CRS assists in adjusting colour on monitor and have a better view," Bhanushali said.

Ever since the system was installed in August, the hospital authorities are able to take X-rays of close to 250 persons daily far high from 150 patients earlier. "The system saves our as well as the patient's time and money. Earlier, it would take around 45 minutes to have an X-ray copy of a patient in hand. Now, the same has been reduced to 15 minutes, leading to more number of patients checked everyday," Dr Dilip Vanere, another radiologist at the civic hospital, claimed.

With the CRS, medical officials can see a patient's X-ray report on their computers. "The computers are connected through LAN. So, in cases of an emergency, doctors can see films on their computers and need not wait for the hard copy to be shown," Vanere added.

Once the film is taken, details of the same are stored in picture archiving computerized system (PACS), part of CRS. "The PACS can save details of a patient for 20 years. We just need to enter details such as identity number etc on a machine and the data will be on screen. The good part is, whenever we will take a printout of the film, its quality will not be affected. Apart from these, in medico-legal cases (MLC) too we can submit the report to the concerned court when demanded without any problem," Bhanushali said.

Patients visiting the hospital too have welcomed the facility. "It is quite cheaper. In private hospitals, one needs to spend Rs 400 for getting a film, while at the corporation's hospital it is just Rs 40. If one is getting the service at such a low rate without compromising on the quality, it is definitely good for us," a patient said on condition of anonymity.

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