MiniCAT™ Collaborative Success Story:
Joining forces to set the pace for more efficient and effective healthcare
With 26 busy offices in New York and New Jersey, ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP has found the MiniCAT™ a time saving accurate device, providing many benefits to both the patients and physicians.
The air of efficiency that permeates the halls and exam rooms at ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP of White Plains, NY, spells one thing: quality patient care.
The Setting
Consider ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP overall numbers: In 26 offices, 69 physicians and 30 plus licensed audiologists offer a broad range of services, including sinusitis treatment; facial plastic surgery; sinus, laser endoscopic sinus, head and neck, and nasal surgery; pediatric ENT care; treatment for sleep apnea and related disorders; rhinoplasty; hearing disorder therapy; and vertigo, allergy, and voice disorder treatment.
In fact, ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP is among the largest and most successful practices of its kind. The White Plains clinic symbolizes that strength.
Key to ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP’s success is its staff of nine board-certified physicians, including Wayne Eisman, M.D., Cynthia Jerome, M.D., Steven Kase, M.D., Dan Moskowitz, M.D., Stuart Nevins, M.D., Richard Rosenberg, M.D., Hyman Ryback, M.D., Frank Shechtman, M.D., and Richard T. Yung, M.D.
The Vision
Also of vital importance is the new MiniCAT™ scanner, an upright CT scanner developed by Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Xoran Technologies®, Inc. * (Xoran) for otolaryngological applications. The MiniCAT™**, produces 0.4mm slices, enables otolaryngologists to generate high-resolution digital images and is fully compatible with most image-guided surgery systems. Scans take 40-seconds for adults and 20 seconds for children.
"The high-quality images we’re getting, the speed with which they’re acquired, the added patient comfort, and the reduction in radiation dose, (compared with full-body CT scanners) are great things for the patient," said Anthony Stella, the CT Scan Manager. "With the system here, patients can receive an immediate diagnosis rather than having to wait days or weeks."
Edward Sabino, director of Sleep Diagnostics and Radiology, agreed.
“Not having to send our patients to an outside imaging center, or ask them to jostle with other patients at the hospital, is very important.” said Sabino.
According to Sabino, Robert A. Glazer, CEO of ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP learned of the MiniCAT™ through a colleague. While the MiniCAT™ scanner was unlike anything Glazer had seen before, he recognized the value of a compact scanner designed for an ENT office. In fact, the system’s compactness enabled its installation in a 6 by 9 foot room on the third floor.
“The beauty of this system is its cost and its size,” Glazer said. “It fits in a 6- x 9-foot room, weighs 450 pounds, and does not require structural reinforcement. From a patient’s perspective, it is less intimidating than conventional scanners.”
**Xoran is a customer focused medical imaging company that is passionate about bringing fresh, common sense solutions to patient care. (www.xorantech.com)
* Xoran’s MiniCAT™ is a small, easy to use, turn-key solution for point-of-care CT scanning for ENT physicians.
The Difference
It’s also more efficient, Sabino said. “Patients get in and out faster, they get the results of their scan more quickly, our doctors can make decisions almost instantaneously, and patients can begin treatment—and get well—much sooner,” he said. “The MiniCAT™ has led to a better experience for both our doctors and their patients.”
Additionally, the system’s reputation for uniqueness has spread among local ENT groups, enhancing ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP’s reputation.
“Our patients and doctors love it,” said Sabino. One doctor who appreciates the MiniCAT™ is Dr. Ryback, who largely uses it to evaluate the sinuses. The biggest advantage is its ability to enable faster diagnoses.
“We get instantaneous diagnoses,” he said. “Instead of requiring a visit here, then to the hospital, then back here to read the images, we can come up with an answer right away. More important, we can begin the correct treatment at once rather than put patients on antibiotics for something that we might later learn didn’t need antibiotics.”
Care, Convenience, Cost-effectiveness
In medicine, lost time can mean lost health. At ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP that’s never a problem where the MiniCAT™ is concerned.
“I have patients come in and five minutes later I’ll have a diagnosis,” Dr. Ryback said. “This truly represents radiologic imaging advancement and brings 21st century medicine to our patients”
In White Plains, the MiniCAT™ is also used for surgical navigation. In that regard it has performed well.
“Navigation requires very specific cuts and very specific detailing, and we’re able to comply with those standards,” said Dr. Eisman.
Elisa Pizzuti, a medical assistant, offered a different perspective. She completes the patient authorization process, enabling patients to undergo imaging. Before installation of the MiniCAT™, a significant portion of her time was spent tracking patients who failed to show up for their off-site CT scan (at the cost of an additional co-payment).
“The hospital is overbooked, turnaround time is one to two weeks, and we can image them right here,” she said. “We save them hours of time. When they find out they can get it done here, they’re ecstatic.”
Miki Itoh, ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP’s clinical supervisor, agreed.
“Convenience is everything,” she said. “It’s great having a tech on site who can help coordinate the images with the surgeries, and the doctors can view the images online. There really isn’t a downside.”
There are several other upsides: the MiniCAT™ enables patients to be imaged more quickly, and they return to work faster. There is decreased downtime at work, increased uptime at home, and increased employee productivity. Finally, because patients can see their images, they are more likely to comply with treatment regimens.
In Dr. Ryback’s mind, it all boils down to innovation. “This is the most important piece of technology I’ve seen in 26 years,” he said. The Xoran system has clearly taken CT to a new level.
© 2006 Xoran Technologies®, Inc.
* * (See below) * **
ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP Overview
26 Offices
69 Physicians
30 Plus Licensed Audiologists
9 White Plains clinic physicians
2 MiniCAT™ scanners
The White Plains clinic was established in 2005 and is ranked number 1 in the TriState area
ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP Services
Sinusitis treatment
Facial plastic surgery
Sinus, laser endoscopic sinus, head/neck, nasal surgery
Pediatric ENT
Treatment for sleep apnea and related disorders
Rhinoplasty
Hearing disorder therapy
Vertigo treatment
Allergy treatment
Voice disorder treatment
MiniCAT™ Bottom Line
Faster diagnosis
High-resolution digital images
Point-Of-Care CT scanning
40-second adult scans
20-second pediatric scans
Compatible with most image guided surgery systems
Significantly reduced radiation dose
Increased practice revenue
Easy installation
Improved patient care
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