Willow Creek Now Uses Teleradiology

X-rays and ultrasounds taken at Willow Creek Woman’s Hospital in Johnson are routinely read by radiologists at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. And no one even has to endure Interstate 40.

That’s because Women’s Center of Northwest Arkansas LLC, which does business as Willow Creek, started using teleradiology in March shortly after the facility opened off Interstate 540. The hospital spent about $100,000 on the hardware that makes the digital technology possible, including an ALI image storage and retrieval system.

Most of Willow Creek’s diagnostic radiology and ultrasounds are now transmitted to Little Rock. University Hospital on the UAMS campus boasts six specialists in the obstetric and gynecology subspecialty of maternal fetal medicine. It means they have specialty training for high-risk obstetrics patients.

Jana Hitt, Willow Creek’s director of radiology, said the system is already saving both the hospital and patients time and money. Recurring costs for film and developing solution have been eliminated, and at-risk patients who normally would have to drive to UAMS for consultations can do them over the Internet.

“Instead of having an X-ray in their hand,” Hitt said, “the radiologists view the computer imaging. This is the wave of the future, and UAMS is certainly trying to be a forerunner in computerized radiology. They’re experimenting to see if offering services to remote sites like us will be economically sound.”