Optimum Lightpath chosen as telecommunications provider by Medical Arts Radiology

Aug 26 2009

Optimum Lightpath(SM), a market leader in Ethernet-based communication solutions for New York metropolitan area businesses, today announced that Medical Arts Radiology, one of the largest medical imaging groups in Long Island, has selected Optimum Lightpath as its telecommunications provider. By replacing its traditional T1 lines with Optimum Lightpath's 100% fiber Ethernet connection, Medical Arts Radiology brings modern radiology to life for Long Island-based patients.

Teleradiology: A Technological Breakthrough for Modern Medicine

Medical Arts Radiology is improving its business processes and going green with Optimum Lightpath. Previously, the facility had to wait for faxes or film in the mail, and slow data sent over a T1 line in order to proceed with case work. Now everything is digitized, saving the facility money on personnel, time and paper. With its 1Gb fiber optic circuit and 20Mb Internet connection, Medical Arts Radiology specialists can now engage in teleradiology, allowing them the ability to view scans anytime, from any office, at home or even on vacation. The doctors are now able to market their expertise nationally and globally by engaging in teleradiology to offer consults and second opinions to other facilities and hospitals anywhere, anytime. The facility can also now run PACS, RIS and other applications that were not possible before.

"In our experience, you cannot perform modern radiology with a T1 line. You have to have fiber and that's why we chose Optimum Lightpath," said Dr. Pradeep Albert, CIO of Medical Arts Radiology. "We can view images taken from any of our six offices and read it anywhere we can access a PC or laptop. Our doctors can even access the secure clinical records system and view patient information on their mobile devices such as iPhones and BlackBerrys. Our business depends on Optimum Lightpath. We love the product -- it's changed the way we do things."

Technology That Saves Lives

"Last week someone came in for a pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot in the lungs that can be potentially fatal. The patient seemed fine but we were able to determine in minutes that the patient did in fact have PE. We immediately printed out the films and sent him to the hospital. Faster technology helps us make quicker decisions. In this case, it meant the difference between sending someone home to wait for a report, sending them to the ER to wait for hours as their condition worsens or diagnosing them immediately and getting them urgent care. It can mean saving lives," said Dr. Albert.

Speeding Organic Growth

The speed of the technology system and the ability to work remotely has significantly increased work efficiencies for Medical Arts Radiology staff. They accommodate 200,000 patients across four office locations per year. As a result, they have been able to grow organically and add two new locations, which will be lit by Optimum Lightpath.

"Medical Arts Radiology has significantly advanced its medical imaging practice, and we're delighted to help them work faster and better to reach more patients than ever before," said Dave Pistacchio, President of Optimum Lightpath. "Speed is critical to radiologists, and flexible remote access to images and data across devices and offices is what keeps them competitive. We are proud to add Medical Arts Radiology to Optimum Lightpath's smart community of healthcare businesses that embrace faster and more reliable voice, data, Internet and video technologies to vastly improve medical operations and patient care."

Medical Arts Radiology has been selected by Optimum Lightpath as its Customer Spotlight of the Month for August 2009.

Source: http://www.optimumlightpath.com