NHS Tayside Viewpoint

Ultrasound Reporting and Image Capture installation NHS Tayside
We are delighted to announce the new ViewPoint Ultrasound Reporting and Image Capture installation across the four hospitals in Scotland comprising the Tayside NHS region - Ninewells, Arbroath, Perth & Whitehills Hospitals.

The new ViewPoint application replaces a manual system that involved keeping a card record for each patient. The system has been implemented with full patient and GP data pre-loaded to allow minimum data entry by users. Eight Ultrasound scanners in the fetal medicine and obstetric departments have been connected to the application, which transfers the patient work list from ViewPoint to the ultrasound scanner. This removes the need for duplicate entry of demographic data. ViewPoint receives and stores the measurements and images captured during the scan for enhanced analysis and reporting of each exam. There are four connected US scanners in Ninewells (Dundee), 1 in Whitehills, 1 in Arbroath and 2 US scanners in Perth hospital.

ViewPoint will allow the Tayside Hospitals to:

• Enhance quality of care and improve report accuracy by eliminating potential human error in data transfer
• Produce comprehensive, accurate reports which can include images and electronically produced charts
• Enhance productivity by allowing digital measurement data transfer
• Streamline workflow thereby saving consultant & sonographer time to allow better utilisation of clinical time
• Allow statistical analysis of all data and so reflects workload / activity to improve payments (by reducing coding errors and lost payments)
• Every unit will now be able to audit its results with respect to the detection of fetal abnormalities on an annual basis

In addition to the installation of ViewPoint for Obstetrics, in the future the trust would also like to link to the blood laboratory in Edinburgh for the purpose of streamlining first trimester blood screen reporting and overtime implement the Gynaecology module to use across the four hospitals.