ATLANTA, GA, October 5, 2004 -- Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VAR) today announced it has added new clinical management tools to its VARiS Vision™ radiation oncology management software, which provide a complete electronic health record. The new “Clinical Assessment”and “Dynamic Documents” modules accelerate the adoption of a paperless and filmless environment and streamline the otherwise complex clinical processes involved in treating cancer.
“We have developed an easy-to-use, fully integrated system that puts all clinical operations and patient information into a unified, powerful, relational database so that all data and the images are available exactly when and where they are needed,” said Kolleen Kennedy, vice president for Varian’s Oncology Systems business. “It supports all forms of radiotherapy, from conventional to IMRT, from IGRT to stereotactic approaches.”
Among the new features are:
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A comprehensive electronic health record that meets demands for “paperless clinics” seeking to operate more efficiently by making the right information accessible on terminals when and where the clinical staff needs it.
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A “clinical assessment module” that documents and manages diagnosis, disease staging, evaluation and management, patient vital signs, lab results, patient counseling and education, and medications. This module includes a “Smart Staging” feature that guides physicians through the staging process according to current clinical guidelines so that an optimal treatment approach can be determined.
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Standard templates that users can customize and auto-populate with existing data, as well as prompted activities that streamline workflow and guide clinicians through the treatment evaluation process for each patient.
In addition, VARiS Vision now incorporates an enhanced user interface, making personalized displays available at any workstation within a clinic when a particular user logs on. It gives clinicians the familiarity of “look-alike” displays, graphically designed to enhance the user’s familiarity and comfort with the program. Within VARiS Vision, radiation oncology and medical oncology information can be entered, viewed, and updated as necessary. Clinical information entered at any point within the system is instantly available in all other parts of the clinic, insuring that accessed information incorporates all recent changes and is always the most current.
The VARiS Vision system incorporates DICOM and HL7 standards so that radiation oncology department personnel can easily share images and patient information with other departments throughout the hospital. In addition, it incorporates comprehensive security tools that enable customers to comply with the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act”(HIPPA). VARiS Vision can interface with other compatible systems, including linear accelerators manufactured by other vendors.
Varian’s VARiS Vision clinical management solution is on display here at the annual American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) meeting through October 7.