Western Dental Services launches digital X-ray imaging program

Sep 8 2009

CDW Healthcare, part of the public sector subsidiary of CDW Corporation and a leading provider of technology products and services to healthcare organizations, today announced that Western Dental Services, Inc. (“Western Dental”) of Orange, Calif., launched an extensive digital X-ray imaging program powered via technology configured and deployed by CDW Healthcare. The implementation represents a critical stage in the dental healthcare provider’s ongoing efforts to adopt paperless processes that speed caregiver access to patient information and eliminate the inconvenience of film-based images.

Founded in 1903, Western Dental is one of California’s oldest and most experienced dental and oral health maintenance organizations (DHMOs). Western Dental’s staff includes more than 4,000 doctors, assistants, managers, administrators and clerical personnel who operate out of over 200 dental offices and dental clinics throughout California, and out of affiliate offices in Arizona and Nevada.

“As the ongoing economic downturn continues to impact healthcare providers’ bottom lines, solutions that transform labor-intensive, paper-based processes into digital information have taken on a renewed importance,” said Bob Rossi, vice president of CDW Healthcare. “Digital imaging technology provides an effective, scalable platform that reduces cost and enhances patient satisfaction.”

CDW Healthcare technology specialists collaborated with Western Dental’s IT operations staff to understand the provider’s unique requirements. After completing an extensive needs assessment, the CDW Healthcare team configured and deployed a customized technology solution – including thin clients, wall mounts with articulated arms, PCs, displays, software upgrades and servers – throughout 150 dental offices to enable access to patient information in diagnostic areas, examination rooms and hallway workstations.

Each practice’s patient examination rooms are equipped with wall-mounted thin clients and 17-inch LCD monitors that allow caregivers to rapidly share high-resolution images with patients at the point of care. Other thin clients located in patient care areas enable clinicians to access Western Dental’s proprietary Estimator software, which digitizes the diagnosis entry process and rapidly determines treatments covered by a patient’s insurer. CDW Healthcare also provided Western Dental with the necessary server infrastructure to support the digital imaging solution as well as additional PCs and thin clients deployed throughout X-ray rooms and front offices.

To relieve Western Dental from the burden of accommodating a single large shipment of products, CDW Healthcare facilitated a just-in-time delivery schedule that coordinated hardware deployment throughout the provider’s network of offices. CDW Healthcare also provided detailed asset tracking, configuration and imaging services for the project’s 1,200 thin clients, PCs and servers, resulting in a faster, smoother deployment that prevented Western Dental’s IT staff from becoming overwhelmed with logistical details.

“CDW Healthcare’s product guidance, responsiveness and ability to standardize the technology per our requirements were crucial to the success of our digital imaging initiative,” said Chris Close, IT operations manager for Western Dental. “From server configuration to product deployment, our account team played an integral role in all stages of the program, assisting us in implementing a solution that will help our practices to lower operating costs, speed the delivery of care and increase patient satisfaction.”

CDW is ranked No. 34 on Forbes’ list of America’s Largest Private Companies.

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