Practice Overview
Coosa Valley Equine Center, founded by Dr. Ed Murray in Pell City, Alabama, started
as a three-veterinary ambulatory practice in 1987. It has since evolved into a 24-hour, full-service referral clinic
for both medical and surgical cases, and provides emergency care at any time. The center's staff has
also multiplied to accomodate its growth, with anywhere from four to seven veterinarians and five veterinary assistants, among other staff members, on-site at any given time.
Coosa Valley Equine Center is the only practice in the state of Alabama devoted solely to equine care, and sees
approximately 4,000 cases per year. The practice covers everything from lameness,
orthopedic and soft tissue surgery, reproduction, medicine, and emergency issues. They are acclaimed for their expertise in getting performance horses in superior health and back into the working environment quickly, leading them to receive horses
from all across the country.
The facility is state-of-the-art, consisting of a two-story clinic that includes a surgical
suite, induction/ recovery room, intensive care stall, examination room, digital radiograph
evaluation area, central pharmacy, and two laboratories. Three hospital barns and two
seperate functioning isolation barns have the capacity for approximately thirty-four horses to be hospitalized for
treatment and care. The third hospital barn also operates as a reproduction facility with an attached
laboratory. A covered arena, consisting of a round pen, two trot tracks, farrier station, and
podiatry center, offers an all-weather lameness area.
Why Digital?
For Coosa Valley Equine Center, traditional film processing was time-consuming, produced poor-quality images, and created a large backlog; the veterinarians recognized that digital processing was the solution.
- Dr. Jody Wagner, DVM - Coosa Valley Equine Center
Why VETinfo SYSTEMS?
Coosa Valley Equine Center started working with VETinfo SYSTEMS five years ago, when they purchased their first digital products: Power Archive and a Fuji CR. The Power Archive product enabled them to archive and burn images CDs. Reflecting the expansion of their practice, Coosa Valley outgrew this solution. With their recen decision to go completely digital, they had to select a reliable system and provider; they chose VETinfo SYSTEMS' PACS solution, Micro PowerPACS (MPP) for Veterinary.
Their decision was based in part on the VETinfo SYSTEMS' proven commitment to a quality product and outstanding service. The MPP for Veterinary product enabled the practice to view processed images at different viewing stations, freeing up the Fuji processor. They can now view images in surgery, process additional images, and view them in a separate area, which they were unable to do before. Digital radiography allows the veterinarians to manipulate and enhance images for more accurate evaluations. The MPP for Veterinary viewer includes a comprehensive toolkit, allowing users to manipulate images for enhanced diagnostic viewing; tools such as the measuring function are essential for evaluation before surgery to ensure that each operation is successful and precise to the millimeter.
"One of the most valuable parts of the system that the vets found was to be able to show the trainer and owners the progression or regression that has been made with a side-by-side comparison on the dual screen monitors."
- Jim Bishop, Facilities Manager and PACS Coordinator - Coosa Valley Equine Center
Empowering the Organization with MicroPower PACS for Veterinary
Jim Bishop, Coosa Valley's Facilities Manager, commented on the VETinfo SYSTEMS
solution, "One of the most valuable parts of the system that the vets found was to be able to
show the trainer and owners the progression or regression that has been made with a side-by-side comparison on the dual screen monitors." The VETinfo SYSTEMS PACS system with dual color monitors enables users to view patient images clearly on any digital workstation, and understand what exactly is wrong with the patient.
Surgeons benefit significantly from MPP for Veterinary's pioneering technology. Dr. Jody Wagner, Chief Surgeon for Coosa Valley, comments, ?The PACS system for surgery is ideal because the doctor can shoot the x-ray while in surgery, have it processed, and immediately view it on the viewing
screen in surgery. This not only cuts down on time to have the image pushed right to the surgery suite, but also creates a more sterile environment."
Coosa Valley also chose to add DICOMmail to the MPP for Veterinary product. Jim Bishop states, "The DICOMmail increased our turnaround ten-fold by being able to e-mail the image and cutting
out a day of shipping." DICOMmail enables vets to e-mail images to referring doctors, specialists, and clients. This feature dramatically enhances their ability to quickly involve other consultants, when necessary, and eliminates the wait time of having to burn and ship a CD.
In closing, Jim added, "I would recommend VETinfo SYSTEMS to anyone considering a veterinary PACS product. The service over the last five years has been outstanding, and the product has worked wonders for us."
VETinfo SYSTEMS' MPP for Veterinary solution provides veterinarians with radiographic images that can be viewed immediately on a high-resolution monitor, without the need for film development. MPP for Veterinary also offers sophisticated image processing tools, giving veterinarians the ability to enlarge and manipulate images for exceptionally detailed viewing. Images can be stored and archived for future evaluation using VETinfo SYSTEMS' data archive system PowerARCHIVE, which is based on the DICOM 3.0 standards used by hospitals and clinics around the world.
VETinfo SYSTEMS also develops and provides PowerPACS/RIS--a DICOM, HIPAA, and HL7-compliant software suite that delivers affordable, filmless solutions to hundreds of small, mid-size, and large healthcare providers around the world. The PowerPACS/RIS software package combines the image acquisition, viewing, printing, distribution, and archiving PACS resources with RIS functionalities, allowing seamless integration of patient registration, scheduling, clinical information. Workflow management, including patient image studies, structural reports, and related clinical data, is tailored to the needs of each customer; VETinfo SYSTEMS is dedicated to "Delivering Solutions That Meet Your Vision."
