OREANDA-NEWS. November 28, 2013. The challenge of managing costs while improving efficiency can be monumental for healthcare facilities of all sizes, but for smaller facilities it can be that much greater.

When physicians at Van Buren County Hospital (VBCH), a 25-bed hospital in Keosauqua, Iowa, decided it was time for a change, they turned to McKesson for a solution to help them meet meaningful use requirements and to help them connect with larger academic facilities in the state. VBCH plans to use McKesson Radiology™ to help streamline workflow and improve physician efficiency by providing better access to patient information.

VBCH realized that it needed to evolve their workflows to improve patient care and reduce the overall costs and their legacy PACS was no longer able to help them move forward. The hospital knew it required the features, scalability and support available in the McKesson Radiology solution to provide around the clock emergency care, including radiology services to this growing rural community. Additionally, physician and radiologist access to the right analytical tools, imaging results, and the patient record from the McKesson Radiology solution supports the hospital's designation by The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as its Southeast Iowa Heart Care Center.

"Ultimately, our decision came down to two factors - efficiency and flexibility," said Chris MacAfee, chief financial officer, Van Buren County Hospital. "Because we are a small facility, we needed a PACS solution that scales for our requirements but we also have a greater need to benefit from today's technology. Our radiologists want to provide results to patients and doctors through a flexible and user-friendly web-based platform. We also need the expert support that McKesson can provide to help with adopting this new technology."

The new solution will provide the hospital with increased access to patient records in real-time while seamlessly integrating records across its various systems. With McKesson Radiology, the facility will be able to more quickly provide results to referring doctors in the patient community. Before, all of the hospital's imaging data was separated by department and it often took more time to get that data to physicians. Now the data will be accessible online and can be shared immediately.

VBCH also plans to deploy McKesson Study Share™, an add-on solution to McKesson Radiology that enables radiologists to organize images and archive radiology studies for clinical conferencing, case sharing and teaching. The solution helps to improve diagnostic decision support through the ability to share cases with colleagues in the field.

McKesson's Better Health 2020™ strategy helps organizations like VBCH optimize performance and improve quality. Better Health 2020 is a comprehensive initiative designed to help healthcare providers develop the key competencies needed for future success.

"At McKesson, we understand the value that smaller facilities play in the delivery of emerging healthcare to their communities," said Ohad Arazi, vice president, product management, diagnostic imaging, McKesson Imaging and Workflow Solutions. "Van Buren County Hospital saw that we were able to help their smaller facility keep costs down while moving forward with innovative technology. It's not just about reputation. It's about offering real solutions and services designed to help them continuously modernize the care that they can provide to their patients."

About Van Buren County Hospital
As the only hospital in the county, Van Buren County Hospital provides all the medical services patients will need. Their remarkable staff provides around the clock emergency care, lab and radiology services. As well as convenient, affordable, health care through their six rural medical clinics. They also provide Obstetrics, Gynecology, and General Surgery services. Van Buren County Hospital is designated by The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as its Southeast Iowa Heart Care Center and they offer weekly cardiology clinics. For more information, visit www.vbch.org.

About McKesson Corporation
McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 14th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit us at www.mckesson.com.