Bradford hospitals select McKesson Study Share to improve knowledge sharing

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has become the first NHS organisation to deploy McKesson Study Share web-based software within its radiology academy, with the overall aim of optimising the learning process and become an exemplar of best practice in the sharing of radiology knowledge.

McKesson Study Share will primarily be used to allow Bradford’s 20-strong consultant radiologist team to create and share teaching files directly from its picture archiving and communications (PACS) system. It will also be used for case sharing and in preparing documented reference cases for ‘grand round’ presentations in trustwide meetings and conferences, with the ability to include radiology and other images such as pathology slides, and endoscopy photos.

McKesson Study Share is an example of the type of technology that is set to radically change the way in which specialist knowledge is taught and shared

In providing a centralised, referenced online database, McKesson Study Share will enable the trust to improve the sharing of specialised expertise, ultimately helping to support better decision-making and patient care.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust operates two acute hospitals serving the people of Bradford and West Yorkshire: Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital. In addition, the trust is part of the Leeds Bradford Radiology Academy, providing specialist training in radiology to approximately 70 doctors. The trust also hosts medical students in their clinical placements. The software will benefit trainers who prepare lectures for these students. The trust’s aim is to provide a state-of-the-art environment where specialists and students can explore new ideas, learn new techniques and observe and reflect on clinical practice together.

Louise Hattingh, consultant radiologist at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a Royal College of Radiologists tutor, said: “McKesson Study Share is an example of the type of technology that is set to radically change the way in which specialist knowledge is taught and shared.

“The move towards filmless hospitals brings with it a move towards wider collaboration and it is with this core objective in mind that we selected McKesson Study Share to underpin the way in which we operate as a hospital and teaching academy.”

McKesson Study Share, a product from its imaging and workflow solutions portfolio, enhances access to needed knowledge, helping to improve staff training. The web-based solution also streamlines workflow, providing medical imaging specialists with faster access to their peers' knowledge and offering an efficient means to capture and share their own evolving knowledge. In addition, the trust will have access to MyPACS.Net, McKesson’s online community, which houses the largest collection of online teaching files and serves as a global comprehensive resource.

Warren Edwards, vice president of services and imaging operations, said: “We are delighted that Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is the first UK trust to choose the McKesson Study Share solution.

The move towards filmless hospitals brings with it a move towards wider collaboration and it is with this core objective in mind that we selected McKesson Study Share to underpin the way in which we operate as a hospital and teaching academy

“McKesson is a long-standing partner and imaging solutions provider to the NHS with over 50% of NHS trusts and a number of private healthcare providers now using McKesson solutions.”

McKesson Study Share will be deployed across the whole organisation, allowing the radiologists to provide secure access to PACS case files from anywhere within the trust.

“From a teaching perspective, McKesson Study Share makes the preparing and sharing of files so much more straightforward and is saving us time which we can then put back into patient care,” said Hattingh.

“However, it is also enabling us to share knowledge and more-specialised expertise with those who would not normally be able to access this.”

She added: “In my capacity as our hospital college tutor for the Royal College of Radiologists, I attend a number of training forums nationally and there are too many hospitals where clinicians don’t have access to full image libraries. This is an utter shame for we see many interesting cases that we should be collecting for not just teaching, but knowledge enhancement. Our wider objective for this project is to develop best practice in the collation and sharing of radiology images and to convey the wider benefits of knowledge sharing to hospitals across the NHS.”