RRVR vs PRMC

The situation that has evolved between PRMC and RRVR has been simmering for some time. The Special Procedures Room issue (contractual exclusivity,) which was violated by PRMC was, in retrospect, a shot across the bows. Dismantalling the line-of-site antenna on top of the hospital, which allowed the images from the North Campus to be transmitted to the South for reading was a second.

A PACS (a means of digitally storing and transmitting images,) was coming, it was just a matter of time. RRVR wanted to review vendors and have the hospital sit in, back when Christus was here, but they had sale on their minds, and weren't buying. The radiology group bought theirs and offered to carry support if the hospital bought into the system. Again, no sale.

PRMC put together an advisory team to evaluate PACS systems, but look: the radiologists (the ones that would actually read the finished product and utilize the greatest amount of the capabilities)...weren't included, despite having just gone through the implementation of a working PACS.

A voice-recognition system for dictation was attempted and shelved for later because of problems (it didn't recognize voices.)

In the meantime, PRMC tries to evict RRVR. (The group is moving, but not until March.)

Now comes the rollout of both the new PACS and the recognition system--exactly what would be needed for a off-site radiology group to start...and the current group would have to work out the bugs...not likely! Making things simpler for the competition isn't going to happen.

But, this last episode probably shouldn't be a complete suprise. "Hud" Connery's prevous company (not Health Trust, but Arcon Healthcare, which went bankrupt in 1998) was based on the Virtual Hospital concept, similar to that which was implemented successfully by the University of Iowa.

In that episode, the little guys got hurt, like New World Printing, an office supply company that was owed $340.62 for June and August of 1998--and lost it to the bankruptcy in which the company left a handwritten note stuck in the door of the court saying they were too broke to re-organize. And the staffs of nine facilities that went under with minimal notice.