Customer Story: Victoria Heart
AUTHORED BY HEARTLAB
5 MAY, 2023
“HeartLab’s solution to echocardiogram reporting is, by far, the most tailored and comprehensive approach available today. We highly recommend them.”
Dr. Andris Ellims
What were the main challenges in your workflow prior to onboarding HeartLab?
Dr. Ellims: As our practice grew, we realised that we needed a better way of managing and reporting our echocardiograms.
Many of our day-to-day tasks were completed manually, and this took up a lot of staff time that could have been spent with patients. We used to use USB drives for data storage, and our numerical data was typed manually into echo reports. This old workflow was time-consuming and unreliable, with minimal integration with our practice management software.
How has HeartLab's software impacted Victoria Heart’s workflow and overall efficiency?
Dr. Ellims: After several months of researching and trialing several more established cardiology PACS platforms, we were disappointed that we were unable to find a solution that met our needs.
We were introduced to HeartLab, and after a productive initial meeting, we collaborated to develop a tailored workflow that has dramatically simplified and improved our echocardiogram reporting workflow.
Dr. Ellims: Our studies’ images are now seamlessly transferred to the cloud for secure remote reporting, and our reports are auto-populated with numerical data, saving time for our sonographers. Completed reports are automatically added to our practice management software for rapid e-distribution.
Shona: Since moving to HeartLab, I have been able to shift my focus from data entry to patient care, which has significantly improved my productivity and workflow. The daily patient worklist is automatically populated onto Echo Machines, and measurements are auto populated from the Echo Machine to HeartLab, which has saved me a significant amount of time for each patient.
“Uploading studies to HeartLab is essentially immediate upon ending an exam, and study review is seamless with great offline measurement tools. This means we no longer need to re-measure data or make changes on the Echo machine but can end the exam and perform post-processing analysis either immediately or later.”
Shona: HeartLab has also improved our urgent patient care processes. Echo studies can be reviewed immediately by the reporting cardiologist from anywhere with internet access. This assists in the urgent patient setting and when patients have a same-day review with the cardiologist. Additionally, offsite health professionals can be provided with secure and protected one-off/limited-time access to view a specific patient echocardiogram.
Our practice utilized the share feature recently with a patient admitted to the hospital urgently, and the treating medical team could review the exam and provide the appropriate care expediently.
How has HeartLab's customer support team been throughout your experience with their software?
Dr. Ellims: The team at HeartLab have been wonderfully responsive at all stages of implementation of their software at our practice. Any issues are addressed promptly, including after hours. We have been particularly impressed by how well requests and suggestions specific to our practice have been incorporated into the HeartLab software.
Would you recommend HeartLab to other sonographers or clinics?
Dr. Ellims: HeartLab’s solution to echocardiogram reporting is, by far, the most tailored and comprehensive approach available today. We highly recommend them.
Shona: Absolutely and resoundingly yes. The breadth and quality of the system allow growth and future proofs expansion of Clinic services.
“HeartLab, from my perspective, has definitely improved my day-to-day workload as a Cardiac Sonographer in a busy Cardiology Practice.”