Digital Cardiac Testing

Advanced Computerized Cardiac Diagnostic Technology 

When we provide quality care at OSF Saint James - John W. Albrecht Medical Center, we not only providing our patients and their families with the small town touch they've come to expect, but also the same advanced computerized diagnostic technology that you find at a large regional medical facility. And with cardiovascular disease being the number one killer in the United States, having state-of-the-art computerized equipment can provide physicians with detailed information in order to make a cardiac diagnosis more quickly, even if the physician is not at the hospital.

OSF Saint James Medical Center is dedicated to providing our patients, staff and physicians with such technology. Our cardiology department alone will have four new pieces of computerized diagnostic equipment in the areas of EKG, echocardiogram, cardiac calcium scoring, and a computerized cardiac management system that will tie everything together.

Digital EKG

Most people have heard of, or even had, an EKG (electrocardiogram). It's a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat. A cardiologist can look at the results of the EKG to determine how long it took for the electrical wave to pass through the heart...showing whether the activity is normal, slow, fast, or irregular, and also measure the amount of electrical activity passing through the heart muscle. While the way in which an EKG is performed...attaching a few wired stickers to the chest and side...has not changed, the way in which the cardiologist reads the test, certainly has. Historically, EKG's were printed out on strips of paper, photocopied, sent on to a cardiologist to review, and manually filed. In April of 2007, OSF Saint James purchased a system called GE MUSE which allows a cardiologist to read and interpret the EKG tracing from a computer in his own office, home, or elsewhere within the hospital. The system automatically saves the results and sends the cardiologist's report to specific locations within the hospital.

An echocardiogram is an important diagnostic tool in the fight against heart disease. It provides doctors with a non-invasive method of viewing the heart and related blood vessels using ultrasound. With the information from an echocardiogram, doctors can determine a patient's risk for heart-related health problems and plan treatment to prevent or ease heart disease. In early 2008, OSF Saint James upgraded their echo equipment to the Phillips ie33 digital echo technology. With this new equipment and the addition of the CPACS (discussed below), cardiologists have immediate online access to completed exams for reading results, and consulting on those patients if needed. This avoids having to wait until the next physician work day for the test to be interpreted.

CCTA

Coronary CT Angiogram (CCTA) uses OSF Saint James' new GE Volume Computed Tomography (VCT) scanner to take detailed pictures of the heart and vessels in thin sections to determine if there are fatty or calcium deposits built up in the coronary arteries, an indicator of heart disease. The pictures received from this exam are then saved on a computer system where radiologists and cardiologists can review them from a computer at their home or office to determine the best course of treatment.

CPACS

In 2008, OSF Saint James received a computerized system called CPACS (Cardiac Picture and Archiving Communication System) which uses the most advanced industry standards to store medical images. The system, which is also in place for radiology images, takes the echocardiogram images and places them within the system for retrieval by cardiologists at their own location or within the hospital. The system also interfaces with the patient's electronic medical record allowing quick and easy access to patient information and previous reports.

Benefits of Going Digital

The benefits of all of this computerized technology? Your cardiologist and primary physician no longer need access to actual films or strips. Everything would be available to them online at their own location. A cardiologist and primary care physician will each be able to access a patient's echocardiogram and other cardiac testing results at the same time on their own computer to discuss findings and appropriate care and treatment.