The Imaging Center Selects CoSign Electronic Signatures to Expedite Signing of Medical Reports

Algorithmic Research (ARX), a global provider of electronic signature and data security solutions, today announced that The Imaging Center of Florissant, Missouri has successfully deployed CoSign® - ARX’s simple-to-use and tamper-evident digital signature solution. The Imaging Center physicians use CoSign electronic signatures to digitally sign (including a graphical signature) transcribed medical reports that are then electronically sent to patient’s primary care physicians using ActFax’s Active Fax Server. Facing mounting costs in time and money, The Imaging Center decided to minimize paper processing and move to a paperless environment instead, by implementing ARX’s CoSign. By implementing CoSign, The Imaging Center transitioned to a paperless medical reporting process.

Following an exam, a radiologist reviews the patient’s films and other images, compares them with previous studies if available, and dictates a report. An on-site medical transcriptionist types the report (typically in Microsoft Word) and stores it in a secure internal database. With CoSign, the radiologist can retrieve the report to review and digitally sign as required for doctors’ signatures on medical records. CoSign replaces the previously labor intensive process of typing, printing, manually signing and faxing reports. Transition to electronic signatures with CoSign enabled The Imaging Center to reduce report turn-around time from two or three hours to approximately ten or fifteen minutes from dictation to electronic fax delivery. Labor costs decreased significantly while accounts receivable billing and reporting are also enhanced.

The Imaging Center’s mission is to combine state-of-the-art technology with high quality patient care in a convenient, personalized setting. CoSign helps drive customer service and patient satisfaction by expediting the time it takes to get from a patient exam at The Imaging center to the receipt of the medical report by the primary care physician. “The Imaging Center has significantly improved its report turn-around time” says Jan Greiwe, VP and Chief Operating Officer of The Imaging Center. The Imaging Center selected CoSign because of it’s ability to easily integrate with various, user management systems (or provides it’s own independent directory), quick deployment, and almost zero management required. “Security and simplicity are a great combination for a small organization in the HIPAA regulated healthcare market” adds Jan Greiwe.

CoSign’s PKI-based technology guarantees signer authenticity, data integrity, and non-repudiation of transcriptions. Regulations such as HIPAA dictate that healthcare organizations must implement an authentication system that ensures that electronic records and signatures are trustworthy, reliable and secure.

“CoSign electronic signatures allow organizations like The Imaging Center to ‘seal’ the document contents,” said Ari Seror, Head of Professional Services, ARX. “CoSign drives regulatory compliance while increasing process efficiency by reducing or even eliminating the time and cost of printing, handling, and mailing signed paper documents through less secure methods”.

Founded in 1988, The Imaging Center is a St Louis based outpatient diagnostic radiology center that offers a full range of imaging modality exams including: GE Signa Profile Open MRI, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) with Spiral (PET/CT), Nuclear Medicine – Bone Scans and Cardiac Stress Testing, Ultrasound, Mammograms - with computer-aided detection, Spiral CT Scans, and Fluoroscopic Exams. The center is accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR www.acr.org) in MRI and Mammography. The center's diagnostic exams are performed by radiologic technologists who are registered with the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT, www.arrt.org), and interpreted by board-certified radiologists, cardiologists, and physical medicine/rehabilitation physicians who have highly specialized training in the procedures they perform. Registry qualifications include completion of a two-year academic and clinical training program, and successful passage of registry board exam.

More information about The Imaging Center is available at www.theimagingcenter.org