Hospital in Mauritius is now fully connected
A state-of-the-art hospital in the middle of the Indian Ocean? That’s Apollo Bramwell Hospital on Mauritius. It serves patients from six small neighboring states and has emerged as a centre of excellence and a regional reference center since its opening two years ago. Selecting the right equipment that meets the needs of the patients and the geographical location and enables the clinical staff to deliver a high level of care was a crucial task in the early development of the hospital.
JiveX enables fast and reliable access to images
One such major task was the selection of the best PACS for the Apollo Bramwell Hospital (ABH). Cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Miodrag Todorovic, Clinical Advisor of Medical Services and Quality Control at ABH, explained that the idea for the hospital was conceived five years ago and that it took three years to build the facility.
“In the last phase of completing the hospital, we began to look for a PACS supplier,” he says. “We had two quotes and options; the main reason for choosing VISUS was the fact that they offered a solution which suited us in every way: quality and price.” While VISUS was not the only vendor, ABH was attracted by the prospect of dealing with an emerging company that provides technological breakthroughs. Dr. Todorovic adds: “So far over the two years, we have had only good experiences with our VISUS products.”
ABH is a 200-bed, mostly single room, special care institution offering top-level diagnostic and treatment procedures to international patients. Since from its inceptions it was the hospital’s goal to meet international standards, JCI certification (Joint Commission International) was a logical step. The facility provides cardiothoracic, orthopedic, nephrology as well as transplant and neurosurgery along with pediatrics, maternity, and therapies such as stem cells and in vitro fertilization. In 2011, about 25,000 patients were admitted, with some 10% being international patients, mostly from countries around Mauritius, though some come from the UK, France and elsewhere. “Mauritius intends to develop the highest standard of medical services and to become a hub for medical excellence. It is attracting professionals, investors and international clients,” Dr. Todorovic underlines. No surprise then that ABH is already a destination on the medical tourism map. The diagnostics department at ABH is well prepared: it includes CT, MRI, whole body MRI, angiography, ultrasound, x-ray and fluoroscopy, OPG dental x-ray, a 64-slice dual head CT scanner, 1.5 Tesla MRI and mammography. There hospital also has an advanced electronic medical records (EMR) system.
ABH conducts 17,000 digital x-rays a year, including 2,800 CT scans, 1,700 MRIs, and 7,000 ultrasound scans, all handled by a hospital-wide PACS. In particular, the PACS offers the radiology department a number of high definition diagnostic workstations with separate diagnostic centers for the cardiovascular department and the catheterization lab. “Each consultation room is connected to the system and clinicians can access the PACS through the internet to call-up the x-ray images. We are completely computerized and workstations are available everywhere,” Dr. Todorovic reports.
The PACS enables doctors to access images in the patient area, the consultation area and the diagnostic areas. In addition the doctors can access the PACS from home to view x-rays or diagnostic reports. The PACS is linked to the hospital information system (HIS) and to the telemedicine system which considerably speeds up diagnosis. “From my home I can open the file on the PACS system,” Dr. Todorovic says. “This is comfortable for me as the cardiovascular surgeon and it increases patient security. In addition, this set-up allows us to transfer the images to the referring doctor in the country or overseas.”