Diagnostic Imaging Services: Warehouse to Patient Care

Home » Diagnostic Imaging Services: Warehouse to Patient Care

Current and upcoming destinations range from Shepparton in regional Victoria and Campbelltown in New South Wales, through South Australia, Tasmania and Far North Queensland, to name only a few.

The clinics are just as varied.

• Chiropractic clinics.
• Veterinary practices and hospitals.
• Radiology centres.
• Dental and orthodontic practices.
• Medical facilities.
• Bone density and specialist diagnostic clinics.

Behind every one of those crates is a project and ultimately, a patient or animal waiting at the other end of it.

More than equipment sitting in a warehouse

At first glance, receiving a shipment of diagnostic imaging equipment might seem straightforward –

1. A container arrives.
2. The crates are unloaded.
3. They are stored until somebody needs them.
4. The reality is very different.

Much of the equipment entering our warehouse has already been allocated to specific projects before it arrives.

Our warehouse effectively becomes one stage within a much larger national deployment process.

Before a system can leave us and become operational, numerous other pieces may need to fall into place.

There may be:

• room design and construction;
• radiation shielding calculations and shielding works;
• electrical infrastructure;
• government and radiation regulatory approvals;
• licensing requirements;
• equipment registrations;
• building contractors;
• electricians;
• radiation consultants;
• compliance testers;
• IT and network preparation;
• PACS and DICOM integration;
• freight planning;
• engineering scheduling;
• clinical training; and
• final commissioning and handover.

Trying to coordinate all of that across multiple clinics and multiple Australian jurisdictions is a substantial logistical exercise.

In many ways, the project management and planning behind getting diagnostic imaging equipment from our warehouse into clinical service is a full-time job in itself. And we do it continuously.

More than 100 diagnostic imaging systems every year

We currently install well over 100 systems annually across Australia and provide diagnostic imaging services to many more clinics.

It is something we are extremely proud of. Not simply because of the number of installations. The more important measure is what those systems become once our engineers have finished with them.

An X-ray machine in a crate is equipment. An operational diagnostic imaging system inside a clinic becomes part of patient care.

• It gives a clinician access to information.
• It can help identify an injury.
• It can assist with a diagnosis.
• It can help determine whether further investigation or specialist intervention is required.
• In veterinary medicine, it can help a veterinarian understand what is happening to an animal that cannot explain where it hurts.

That is the outcome that matters.

As we grow, we are proud that our growth also means helping expand access to diagnostic imaging capability throughout Australia.

DRGEM diagnostic X-ray systems

General diagnostic radiography remains one of the most widely used forms of medical imaging.

These systems can assist clinicians in evaluating fractures, joint conditions, spinal and musculoskeletal abnormalities, chest conditions and many other clinical presentations.

Modern digital radiography means the image can be available for review within seconds. But producing the image is only the beginning. That image may need to be processed, stored, transferred, reviewed by another healthcare professional and ultimately incorporated into the patient’s broader clinical record.

For a metropolitan clinic, access to these capabilities can make the patient journey more efficient.

For a regional or rural clinic, the impact can be considerably greater.

The alternative may involve sending the patient to another town or regional centre simply to obtain imaging.

Bringing appropriate diagnostic imaging capability closer to the patient can reduce unnecessary travel, delays and disruption to their care.

Carestream panoramic OPG systems

An OPG, or orthopantomogram, provides a panoramic image of the teeth, upper and lower jaws and surrounding structures.

It gives dental practitioners a broader diagnostic view than conventional intraoral imaging alone and can assist with assessment and treatment planning across a range of dental and maxillofacial conditions.

Having panoramic imaging available within a practice can also simplify the patient journey.

Instead of referring the patient to another imaging provider purely to obtain the required examination, appropriately equipped practices can incorporate that imaging into their own clinical workflow.

Carestream OPG with CEPH

Some of the Carestream systems moving through our warehouse also incorporate cephalometric imaging, or CEPH.

Cephalometric imaging is particularly important within orthodontics and related dental specialties.

It provides standardised images of the skull and facial structures that can assist clinicians with measurements, assessment, treatment planning and monitoring changes throughout orthodontic treatment.

For practices offering these services, having panoramic and cephalometric imaging available within the clinic can create a much more integrated diagnostic workflow.

DreamPlus VetAxis veterinary X-ray systems

Not every patient arriving at one of these installations will be human.

Veterinary medicine has its own diagnostic imaging challenges. Animals come in vastly different sizes.

They cannot tell the veterinarian precisely where it hurts. And an injured, frightened or unwell animal does not always have much interest in remaining perfectly still for an X-ray.

The DreamPlus VetAxis has been designed specifically around veterinary radiography.

For veterinary teams, access to high-quality diagnostic imaging can assist with the investigation of fractures, trauma, orthopaedic conditions, thoracic and abdominal conditions and many other presentations.

And the geographical argument is just as important in veterinary medicine as it is in human healthcare.

For a veterinary practice in metropolitan Melbourne, another imaging or referral facility may only be a short distance away.

For a clinic operating in regional South Australia, Tasmania or Far North Queensland, that may not be the case.

Having appropriate diagnostic imaging capability available locally can prevent an already injured or unwell animal from having to be transported unnecessarily over long distances.

DRGEM VXR-EC32 veterinary X-ray systems

The DRGEM VXR-EC32 provides another purpose-built veterinary imaging solution.

Veterinary radiography should not simply be treated as human X-ray equipment with different patient names entered into the software.

Veterinary imaging has its own positioning requirements, clinical measurements and workflow considerations.

Systems designed specifically for veterinary use can provide tools supporting orthopaedic, cardiac and other veterinary assessments while allowing diagnostic imaging to form part of the clinic’s normal workflow.

Again, what matters is not simply the technology itself.

It is giving the veterinary team better information with which to make clinical decisions for the animal in their care.

OsteoSys PRIMUS DXA

The OsteoSys PRIMUS has a very different clinical role.

Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) is widely used for the assessment of bone mineral density and conditions such as osteoporosis.

Whole-body DXA technology can also provide information relating to body composition, including lean mass and fat mass.

Unlike imaging performed after an obvious injury, bone density assessment can help identify changes that the patient may have no physical awareness of.

A patient does not necessarily know that their bone density is declining.

Providing clinicians with objective measurements can assist with assessment, ongoing monitoring and decisions about future patient management.

Once again, improving access outside major metropolitan centres can also reduce the distance patients need to travel to obtain specialised diagnostic examinations.

The installation starts before our engineers arrive

A diagnostic imaging installation does not begin when our service vehicle pulls into the clinic.

By then, a substantial amount of work has already occurred.

Depending upon the equipment and jurisdiction, the project may involve coordination with:

• clinic owners and management;
• radiation consultants;
• architects and designers;
• builders;
• electricians;
• shielding contractors;
• compliance testers;
• IT providers (mainly Medic Cloud);
• equipment manufacturers;
• relevant government authorities; and
• our own technical and project teams.

The room must be suitable and electrical infrastructure must meet the requirements of the equipment.

Radiation shielding needs to be appropriately assessed and constructed.

The relevant regulatory requirements need to be addressed and equipment needs to arrive safely and at the correct stage of the construction program.

Our engineers then need to install, configure, commission and integrate the system before the clinic can begin using it.

Whether the project is twenty kilometres from our Melbourne warehouse or several thousand kilometres away, the fundamentals do not change.

Distance changes the logistics not the standard of the installation.

Our Biggest Difference Is What Happens After the X-ray Is Taken

Installing diagnostic imaging equipment is one part of what we do.

Our technical capability is what allows us to take the process considerably further.

Medic Cloud operates across both Diagnostic Imaging and ICT, and the combination of those disciplines has become one of our most important points of difference.

Because modern diagnostic imaging systems are no longer isolated machines.

They are part of an interconnected technology environment.

Once an image is acquired, it may need to move between acquisition software, workstations, DICOM systems, PACS platforms, cloud infrastructure and specialist reporting services.

That is where our technical experience becomes particularly important.

Where required, we can establish workflows that allow patient images acquired within a clinic to be securely transferred through our cloud imaging infrastructure to specialist radiologists for interpretation.

The radiologist can review the examination remotely, prepare the diagnostic report and return that report to the requesting clinic.

This means the physical location of the clinic does not necessarily need to be the location of the specialist interpreting the study.

• A patient can be imaged in regional Victoria.
• The clinic can operate in Far North Queensland.
• Another can be located in Tasmania or regional South Australia.

The imaging data can still form part of a connected clinical workflow that gives the requesting practitioner access to specialist reporting.

For regional and remote healthcare providers, that connectivity is particularly powerful.

It helps bridge geographical distance and allows technology to connect local healthcare providers with specialist expertise elsewhere in Australia.

From image acquisition to specialist reporting

This is why we do not see an X-ray installation as simply:

Machine delivered. Machine installed. Job completed.

The real workflow looks more like:

Patient presents → image acquired → image securely transferred → specialist interpretation → report returned → requesting clinician continues patient care.

The hardware is only one part of that chain.

Networking, cybersecurity, DICOM communication, image storage, cloud infrastructure, PACS integration and reporting workflows all need to function together.

When they do, a clinic can operate as part of a much broader diagnostic network.

That capability is particularly important for healthcare providers outside major metropolitan centres.

Specialist expertise does not always need to physically exist in the same building, or even the same state as the patient.

Technology allows those distances to be bridged.

Compliance is a team effort

Diagnostic imaging equipment operates within a heavily regulated environment for good reason.

It produces ionising radiation and must be installed, operated and maintained appropriately.

The specific regulatory pathway varies depending on the equipment, clinical application and Australian state or territory in which the system will operate.

Medic Cloud works closely with the other specialists involved in these projects, including radiation consultants, compliance testers, electricians, builders, shielding contractors, IT providers, manufacturers and relevant regulatory authorities.

Our role is not to pretend that a single company replaces every specialist involved.

Where another appropriately qualified provider is required, we identify that requirement and coordinate with the clinic and relevant professionals.

Certain applications, declarations, licence obligations and statutory responsibilities must also remain with the clinic, licence holder, practitioner or equipment owner.

Where that applies, we make those responsibilities clear.

The objective is straightforward: Get the project completed correctly and get the equipment into clinical service through the appropriate process.

What those crates really represent

Eventually every one of these projects reaches the same point:

• Government approvals are complete.
• Builders and electricians finish.
• The shielding is ready.
• Our logistics team schedules the equipment.
• The crate leaves our warehouse.
• Our engineers arrive.
• The equipment is installed.
• The system is commissioned.
• The network connections are established.
• The imaging workflow is tested.
• The clinicians are trained.
• And finally, the first patient walks through the door.

At that point nobody is thinking about the months of planning, phone calls, construction programs, freight coordination, regulatory processes or technical integration that came before it. Nor should they need to.

They simply expect the technology to work. That is our job.

So when we look around our warehouse at rows of DRGEM X-ray systems, Carestream OPGs, DreamPlus and DRGEM veterinary systems and OsteoSys DXA units, we don’t simply see crates, we:

• See projects in progress.
• Observe clinics preparing to open or expand.
• See systems destined for metropolitan practices and others travelling thousands of kilometres into regional and remote communities of Australia.
• Acknowledge that chiropractors, radiographers, dentists and veterinarians are waiting to put that equipment into clinical use.

And beyond them, we see the patients and animals those clinicians will ultimately care for.

Medic Cloud is now installing well over 100 diagnostic imaging systems across Australia every year, and we continue to grow from strength to strength, becoming one of the leading X-ray equipment suppliers in Australia.

We are proud of that growth. But more importantly, we are proud of what sits behind it.

This has become something of a guiding principle for us at Medic Cloud, not because patients demand it, and not because government regulation dictates it, but because we genuinely want to see Australians, regardless of where they live, have access to the best possible diagnostic care and patient outcomes.

We may never meet the majority of the patients whose images travel through the systems we install, support and connect. They may never know who Medic Cloud is, and that is perfectly fine.

Our role is to work quietly but surely behind the scenes, knowing that somewhere across Australia, someone’s parent, partner, child, friend or much-loved pet is receiving care and that in some small way, we helped make that journey possible.

That is what all those crates really represent.

Contact Medic Cloud to discuss your diagnostic imaging services today. 

Read more blogs