Three spine surgeons discuss the latest technology they have incorporated in their practices and how it is helping them.
Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. We invite all spine surgeon and specialist responses. Next week's question: What qualities do you think patients are looking for in their physicians?
Please send responses to Anuja Vaidya at avaidya@beckershealthcare.com by Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 5 p.m. CST.
Question: What is the latest piece of technology that your practice acquired? Why did you decide to acquire it?
Brian R. Gantwerker, MD, The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: The Osirix MD PACS 
viewing software. We are a Mac-based practice. The technology is robust and very scalable. We are running an in-office PACS server that allows me to archive patient films and obviates the need for CD storage.
The imaging software reads virtually any DICOM protocol and can also extract the images. Also, we will be implementing a web-interface to allow access from any computer with a secure connection and private, HIPAA-safe environment.
Kern Singh, MD, Co-Director, Minimally Invasive Spine Institute, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago: We recently performed a complete IT/phone system upgrade. Sounds simplistic right? Actually we looked at our current telephone infrastructure and realized that voicemails left unanswered, archived or re-checked were a significant drain on administrative productivity.
Our new telephone system now converts all voicemails into emails that are immediately sent to the secretarial staff. Call back numbers and the message itself is populated into an email that can be archived for medical record purposes and can be addressed from any part of the office building.
Gowriharan "Ty" Thaiyananthan, Founder of BASIC, Newport Beach, Calif.: A state-of-art ambulatory spine and orthopedic surgery center designed by our physicians — BASIC ASC. The center was designed from the ground up incorporating the latest in infection control technology, intraoperative imaging and visualization, operative tools and anesthesia equipment.
At the same time, we had a team of consultants help ensure that the center maintained a spa-like experience that optimized the comfort of our patients. The center was specifically designed to perform outpatient spine and orthopedic procedures, and it provides our physicians with the tools to redefine the standard-of-care for many orthopedic and neurosurgical procedures.
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