Vancouver Island Health Authority

Long time customer uses Intelerad Solutions to provide care across a massive geographic region
  • Customer: Vancouver Island Health Authority
  • Location: Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
  • Customer since: 1997
  • Customer profile:  Multi-hospital healthcare organization
  • Radiology studies/year: 800,000 (in Island Health hospitals)
  • Staff: 18,000 healthcare professionals, technicians, and support staff
  • Radiologists: 55
  • Radiologists: 150+
  • Number of facilities:  All
  • Intelerad solutions used:  IntelePACS and InteleViewer

Through their network of hospitals, clinics, centers, health units, and residential facilities, the Island Health (Vancouver Island Health Authority) provides healthcare to more than 765,000 people located in a geographic area of approximately 34,800 square miles. As the region’s primary healthcare provider, Island Health offers a full range of dynamic and progressive health programs and services: public and environmental health, maternal and family health, home care and supports, primary health care, residential care, hospital care, mental health and addictions services, rehabilitation and endof- life care.

FOCUSED ON COMMUNITY

A progressive institution committed to working closely with the community, Island Health is currently in the midst of a five-year strategic plan which focuses on becoming a fully-integrated health organization that provides premium health services to their residents, regardless of their location or how they access health services.

As demands on the region’s health care system increases, Island Health is striving to implement an innovative system-wide response that increases capacity and quality of care. This includes the construction of centers of excellence that focus on patient care and safety, quality of life of Island Health residents, innovative and efficient use of technology, partnerships and investment.

RADIOLOGY AT ISLAND HEALTH

Spanning across nineteen medical imaging sites on Vancouver Island, Island Health boasts a highly skilled team of professional who work together to provide diagnostics and treatment procedures. The primary imaging services provided by Island Health include: angiography, bone mineral densitometry, computed tomography, diagnostic and screening mammography, fluoroscopy, general radiography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine and ultrasound.

INTELERAD AT ISLAND HEALTH

Intelerad’s relationship with Island Health dates back to 1997, when they became the organization’s second customer. Today, IntelePACS® and InteleViewer™ are used across Island Health’s network of hospitals and medical centers, including Campbell River Hospital, Cowichan District Hospital, Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, Royal Jubilee Hospital and Victoria General Hospital. The solutions not only increase the speed at which reports are delivered, but ensure accuracy as radiologists are always able to compare current studies with priors.

“By leveraging Intelerad solutions, we have been able to greatly improve our medical imaging department’s efficiency,” said Ken Situ, a technical analyst with Island Health. “In particular, it has greatly reduced turnaround time, which allows us to provide reports to referring physicians quickly.”

Island Health’s long relationship with Intelerad has also been quite fruitful, from the features and functionality that have been added to solutions due to Island Health’s input, to the support they receive to ensure they are always operating at the highest levels.

“We have a wonderful working relationship. Over the years, we have worked together to develop a lot of features in IntelePACS and a lot of what we asked for has been integrated into the solution,” said Situ. “Customer support is very helpful as well, they are knowledgeable about our set-up and their own systems. They have the best help desk that we have encountered. We have a complicated configuration and image routing setup with 70 servers, and they make sure we are online.”