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Ultrasound: Equipping a region for advanced healthcare
December 15, 2022
Centro di Medicina (‘The Medicine Center’ in English) is a large network of private and affiliated medical facilities that operates across four regions in Northern Italy, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Emilia Romagna, and Lombardia. It currently serves more than 1.5 million patients and employs around 1800 medical specialists, as well as 1250 others, including physiotherapists, laboratory technicians, biologists, nurses, occupational medicine and administration staff. Centro di Medicina is well-known for its excellence in Radiology, Refractive Surgery, IVF, and analytical services. Providing a high quality medical service for the region requires state-of-the-art equipment. The medical center group invests an average of €3 million a year in new technology. It opted for Canon Medical’s Aplio series’ Ultrasound to meet the diverse Ultrasound needs of the Group several years ago. Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Vincenzo Papes, Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Nicola Martino, and Clinical Engineering Director, Mr. Nicola Caporin, explain why Canon offered the best choice.
The Centro di Medicina Group began as a clinic, with a small radiology department in the province of Treviso in Italy, 40 years ago. Over the years, it has emerged as an important regional health infrastructure that serves much of northern Italy. As well as hospital facilities, its network also incorporates outpatient clinics of different levels of organizational complexity. The network provides patients with access more than 50 medical specialisms and the entire spectrum of diagnostics.
“Our policy is to meet patient demands in the best way by optimizing equipment and supplies across the many and varied locations within the Group,” remarked Mr. Papes, Chief Executive Officer at Centro di Medicina. “This ensures that our centers, which lie within a wide territory, consistently reach top technological standards. More than one and a half million patients come to us, which is an indication that this model of healthcare works well.”
“Over the years, we have established a constant collaboration, strong synergy, and a relationship based on consolidated mutual esteem and personal trust with Canon Medical in particular,” added Mr. Papes. “Canon is able to respond perfectly to the high demands that we experience.”
“Our policy is to meet patient demands in the best way by optimizing equipment and supplies across the many and varied locations within the Group,” remarked Mr. Papes, Chief Executive Officer at Centro di Medicina. “This ensures that our centers, which lie within a wide territory, consistently reach top technological standards. More than one and a half million patients come to us, which is an indication that this model of healthcare works well.”
“Over the years, we have established a constant collaboration, strong synergy, and a relationship based on consolidated mutual esteem and personal trust with Canon Medical in particular,” added Mr. Papes. “Canon is able to respond perfectly to the high demands that we experience.”
Dr. Nicola Martino (Clinical Director, Centro di Medicina, Italy) scanning a patient with Canon Medical's Aplio i800.
Utmost reliability
The collaboration with Canon within the group is almost exclusively linked to the supply of Ultrasound equipment. Approximately 70 Canon Medical Aplio i-series and a-series units are used across the Group’s many clinics.
“The Aplio’s have proven their reliability time-after-time,” said Mr. Caporin, Clinical Engineering Director. “The applications, the probes, and the platforms that they use, are of the highest quality, extremely user-friendly, and easy-to-use, with high diagnostic definition and interchangeability that facilitates management of our diagnostics according to different needs of users and departments.”
“The Aplio’s ensure that we can perform our job at the very best level, because of their user-friendliness and customizability,” added Dr. Martino, Clinical Director. “We can achieve the highest standards in diagnostic imaging because they provide such high image quality and there is a high level of performance possible with the transducers.”
“The Aplio’s have proven their reliability time-after-time,” said Mr. Caporin, Clinical Engineering Director. “The applications, the probes, and the platforms that they use, are of the highest quality, extremely user-friendly, and easy-to-use, with high diagnostic definition and interchangeability that facilitates management of our diagnostics according to different needs of users and departments.”
“The Aplio’s ensure that we can perform our job at the very best level, because of their user-friendliness and customizability,” added Dr. Martino, Clinical Director. “We can achieve the highest standards in diagnostic imaging because they provide such high image quality and there is a high level of performance possible with the transducers.”
“Canon Medical is able to respond perfectly to the high demands that we experience.”
Mr. Vincenzo Papes. Chief Executive Officer, Centro di Medicina, Italy.
Versatility
The versatility of the Aplio systems, which feature a whole range of technology, enables the Centro di Medicina to carry out more than 150,000 Ultrasound examinations of all kinds every year.
“In our daily clinical practice we cover every type of Ultrasound request from general body scans, up to more specific and specialized examinations, including musculoskeletal, endocrinological, breast, splanchnic, gynecological, vascular and gynecological imaging,” said Dr. Martino. “We are able to achieve this by utilizing a whole range of technology that is available with the Aplio, starting from the basic B-Mode, up to the most advanced functionalities in diagnostic Ultrasound.”
“In our daily clinical practice we cover every type of Ultrasound request from general body scans, up to more specific and specialized examinations, including musculoskeletal, endocrinological, breast, splanchnic, gynecological, vascular and gynecological imaging,” said Dr. Martino. “We are able to achieve this by utilizing a whole range of technology that is available with the Aplio, starting from the basic B-Mode, up to the most advanced functionalities in diagnostic Ultrasound.”
“With the Aplio's we can achieve the highest standards in diagnostic imaging.”
Dr. Nicola Martino, Clinical Director, Centro di Medicina, Italy
Comfort zone
The work of hundreds of specialists that serve in the Centro di Medicina’s facilities revolves around the clinics and, therefore, also the equipment that is available.
From left to right: Chiara Ghedin (Diagnostic Acceptance Manager of Treviso branch), Mr. Nicola Caporin (Clinical Engineering Director), Laura Giannone (Director-General), Mr. Vincenzo Papes (Chief Executive Officer) and Dr. Nicola Martino (Clinical Director), at the Centro di Medicina in Italy.
“Many of them are familiar with Aplio platforms and feel in a ‘comfort zone’ when they are using these systems’ clinical solutions,” explained Dr. Martino. “Importantly, even those using Aplio for the first time find the interface modern, intuitive and easy to use.”
“Alongside opportunities for customization, the added value is that we can always count on similar equipment in different locations of our facilities which help with staff mobility, replacement operations, and shift changes,” he added.
The challenge of working with different operators in the same center is minimized through the use of advanced equipment that ease data sharing and system exchange between departments.
“We invest in ensuring lean, flexible and up-to-date human resources, and technology also plays a crucial role,” said Dr. Martino. “We are also proud to invest in advanced and digital technologies, such as top diagnostic equipment, but also Artificial Intelligence, storage- and data-sharing systems. Our Group is at the forefront on these key success factors.”
“Alongside opportunities for customization, the added value is that we can always count on similar equipment in different locations of our facilities which help with staff mobility, replacement operations, and shift changes,” he added.
The challenge of working with different operators in the same center is minimized through the use of advanced equipment that ease data sharing and system exchange between departments.
“We invest in ensuring lean, flexible and up-to-date human resources, and technology also plays a crucial role,” said Dr. Martino. “We are also proud to invest in advanced and digital technologies, such as top diagnostic equipment, but also Artificial Intelligence, storage- and data-sharing systems. Our Group is at the forefront on these key success factors.”
From left to right: Chiara Ghedin (Diagnostic Acceptance Manager of Treviso branch), Mr. Nicola Caporin (Clinical Engineering Director), Laura Giannone (Director-General), Mr. Vincenzo Papes (Chief Executive Officer) and Dr. Nicola Martino (Clinical Director), at the Centro di Medicina in Italy.
“The Aplio’s have proven their reliability time-after-time.”
Mr. Caporin, Clinical Engineering Director, Centro di Medicina, Italy.
Service with speed and efficiency
With such a large ‘fleet’ of equipment and continual demand for its use, good maintenance is essential to the Centro di Medicina.
“It is very important to us to have a maintenance service that offers advanced ticketing and reporting. This allows us to monitor in real time the number of calls made on each machine and its state of health, and then evaluate any replacement or upgrade required,” said Mr. Caporin. “The maintenance service is managed exclusively online with the opening of tickets to the Canon assistance service, which intervenes very promptly especially for the most urgent issues we may have.”
Meeting an exceptional range of needs Canon Medical’s Aplio Ultrasound series’ are well-known and trusted by healthcare professionals across the world for reliability, powerful imaging, quantification and advanced analysis capabilities that make it suitable for a wide range of clinical specialties. The Centro di Medicina is one example of how Canon’s technology and service offer combine to meet the diverse needs of a large healthcare provider. //
“It is very important to us to have a maintenance service that offers advanced ticketing and reporting. This allows us to monitor in real time the number of calls made on each machine and its state of health, and then evaluate any replacement or upgrade required,” said Mr. Caporin. “The maintenance service is managed exclusively online with the opening of tickets to the Canon assistance service, which intervenes very promptly especially for the most urgent issues we may have.”
Meeting an exceptional range of needs Canon Medical’s Aplio Ultrasound series’ are well-known and trusted by healthcare professionals across the world for reliability, powerful imaging, quantification and advanced analysis capabilities that make it suitable for a wide range of clinical specialties. The Centro di Medicina is one example of how Canon’s technology and service offer combine to meet the diverse needs of a large healthcare provider. //
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