Practice Management

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  • 1.  Home Workstations

    Posted 12-04-2019 16:41
    We are about to begin deploying workstations at physician homes.  If you have gone down this path, can you technical requirements, policies, etc. that you have in place concerning security, connectivity, support or other aspects unique to the home setting?

    Thanks!

    Dave


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    David Smith FACMPE
    Executive Director
    United Imaging Consultants
    Mission KS
    (785) 393-8387
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  • 2.  RE: Home Workstations

    Posted 12-04-2019 18:59

    David,

     

    We have had radiologists reading from home for a number of years.  Since the radiologists own the company, I can only strongly recommend what they do.  I also inform them of the consequences of not following my recommendations.

     

    1.       Password protect the workstation

    2.       Do not allow family members to use the workstation

    3.       No personal internet use

    4.       Do not store patient information on the home reading station

    5.       If possible, segregate the network for the home reading station out from the personal workstations and devices in the home (VLAN or physical separation).  This one can cause nightmares for support, so only if you have a reliable setup for this.

    6.       Current Anti-virus and Anti-malware.

    7.       I would recommend something that can take a mirror backup of the workstation so it can be quickly restored in a failure.  We use Acronis and a USB hard drive for this.  If your systems are already deployed with an image, then don't worry about this.

    8.       Have a remote support system like Go to Assist or LogMeIn.

    9.       They must connect using a secure VPN technology.

     

    The radiologists that read at home have been very happy with the setup.  We read for two different systems, so they have to make a secure connection to our office, and then they use our secure point-to-point connections to reach the hospitals.

     

    We are transitioning to a single system, and some of our radiologists were going to upgrade their home internet speed to download studies faster.  I let then know that the hospital has a 500 Mbit connection that is shared between the entire enterprise, so they shouldn't bother with more than a 500 Mbit connection since that is the fastest that they hospital can send the study to them.

     

    Let me know if you have any other questions,

     

    Brian

     

     






  • 3.  RE: Home Workstations

    Posted 12-05-2019 09:08
    David,

    Our situation is different from Brian Williams since we only provide services to one health system (Cox).  

    We were able to convince Cox to provide home workstations (free of charge) to each of our radiologists.  The rads only have to pay the telecommunication costs.  Cox set up all of the appropriate security, established the policies and provides all support.  Please advise if you want more details. 

    Please contact me via email or at 417-894-0878 if you have any questions. Thanks and have a wonderful day. 

    Jay Smith, CPA, MBA 
    Executive Director
    Litton & Giddings Radiological Associates, P.C. 
    P.O. Box 14049
    Springfield, MO 65814 

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  • 4.  RE: Home Workstations

    Posted 12-13-2019 09:21
    Our large private practice has implemented and maintained our at home work stations for over a decade. We are currently undergoing a huge upgrade. I would be happy to share our experience.

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    Elizabeth Bergey MD
    CEO
    Quantum Imaging
    Lewisberry
    (717) 932-5200
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  • 5.  RE: Home Workstations

    Posted 12-31-2019 06:50
    One other item that you may want to keep in mind is the physicist testing for compliance.
    I am not sure what your State requirements are but don't overlook this for inspections.
    Thank you

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    Mary Ann Drumm RCC, CCS-P
    CEO
    Crouse Radiology Associates
    East Syracuse NY
    (315) 234-7609
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