PenRad’s PenFetch module automatically transfers images in advance directly to workstations or PACS to eliminate staff wait-time for images. PenFetch automatically processes after-hours, before patients arrive, and/or processes walk-ins immediately.

• Eliminates radiologist and tech wait-time and manual image transfer
• Distributes radiologist’s workload, moves images according to study type and/or PACS destination
• Queries destinations to see if images exist prior to move
• Optimizes teleradiology, LANs, WANs and network utilization during business hours
• Does not require PenRad/PenTrac. Application runs on any customer network

When the Radiologist opens a study to read and the relevant prior images are not available, there is a delay while the images are retrieved. This wastes time, network resources and slows down report turnaround time. Time is also wasted in the imaging room as technologists wait for priors to appear on their imaging workstations. Many facilities spend time and money to manually look-up patients and select prior images to transfer. PenFetch automates the retrieval of prior studies from your PACS archives and routes them to your workstations automatically. The relevant comparison images are moved in the evening to the workstation cache before your radiologists or the technologists arrive. PenFetch also automatically processes image transfer for walk-ins during the day.

PenFetch queries a DICOM worklist for patients that have arrived or are scheduled to arrive, queries various PACS archives for a list of all available images for each patient, and requests PACS to move a copy of the images to each of the workstations based upon a set of defined rules. Multiple PenFetch services can be used to process different worklists and/or move criteria. PenFetch has smarts, too. It can check the destination workstation to see if the images already exist and only copy the images needed. This saves bandwidth and optimizes teleradiology environments. In addition, PenFetch can even query one PACS for studies and request the move from another.

PenFetch only fetches images that fit the ruleset. For example; at midnight for arriving screening patients, retrieve the last two years of mammograms, and any breast US or MRIs within the last three years, and for diagnostic patients, retrieve all exams (mammo, breast US or MRIs)within the last five years. Walk-in studies can be processed immediately. And, PenFetch is not limited to mammography studies only.

PenFetch can distribute different exam types to workstations. For example; diagnostic exams to the workstations in the Diagnostic Reading Room, screening exams to the Screening Room. PenFetch can also query PACS for a patient when multiple Patient ID’s exist for the same patient, and if multiple patients share the same Patient ID in your PACS PenFetch will verify on the patient’s birthdate. Another productivity feature with PenFetch in teleradiology environments is, if images were not sent to workstation cache, just tap the PenFetch button on the exam list to instantly fetch the studies.

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