Frere X-ray department goes digital

FOR years Frere Hospital spent millions each year printing X-rays for patients – now the hospital has migrated to digital and sends X-ray copies via e-mail.

Frere Hospital CEO Dr Rolene Wagner said Frere was now saving between R1.6-million and R1.8-million a year and such funds would be reinvested in other projects at the health facility.

The hospital used to spend R110 000 a month printing out X-rays for patients.

“This is our way of improving our diagnostic capabilities. In February 2013 we introduced the Patient Archiving Computerised System [PACS] because we wanted to better our patients’ experiences at Frere,” she said.

In their way of going paperless, they have introduced digitalised radiology machines.

Now instead of printing out X-rays for patients to take to the doctors, once the X-ray is done, it is logged into the hospital’s database and the doctor expecting it is able to view it from the system using a computer screen.

The hospital also received R840 000 to install and run a wireless network which assists staff to work more efficiently as they can access information wherever they are around the hospital.

“This is thanks to funding we were able to secure from a Danish agency … It is very exciting for us to be able to have such connectivity in the hospital,” she added.

She said the digitisation of X-rays meant the hospital can now have access to patients’ historical data at the click of a button.

“This also means we have access to historical data. The waiting time has also been reduced,” Wagner said. —