St. Joseph Mercy Hospital of Chelsea implements Freedom’s RICAR software package for the processing of radiology requisitions

July 2011, Ann Arbor, MI: In August of 2002, St. Joseph Mercy Health Systems of Ann Arbor implemented Freedom Imaging Systems’ RICAR document and content management software suite to improve laboratory workflow in its Ann Arbor location. Now, nearly ten years later, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital has grown significantly to span six counties with seven hospitals, including Chelsea Community Hospital in Chelsea, Michigan. In July, Freedom worked with St. Joe’s again expanding its use of RICAR and installed the most cutting edge version to improve radiology requisition workflow at their new Chelsea location.

Specifically working with the scheduling, patient registration, X-ray and mammography departments; various elements of the RICAR software suite are proving especially useful. FreeWf, Freedom’s workflow software, may be the most powerful of the tools. As doctors’ offices fax requisitions, a fax server automatically imports them into Freedom’s workflow software where they are broken up and sorted into proper queues by Chelsea schedulers. From there, schedulers move the requisitions into queues with the click of a button, based upon when patients are called to make appointments. A print server automatically prints requisitions to the proper departments 48 hours before scheduled appointments.

In accordance with appropriate network security, requisitions can now be viewed across all departments using FreeView, RICAR’s viewing software. Office personnel can easily access patient requisitions for patients that come into the office or over the phone for quick reference.

With nearly ten years of proven efficacy and confidence in RICAR, St. Joe’s is one of Freedom’s most loyal customers.  We are happy to welcome Chelsea Community into this relationship.

Chelsea Community Hospital (CCH) is a not-for-profit hospital established in 1970. Located in Chelsea, Michigan, CCH is a member of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System. CCH is nationally recognized for both quality of care and patient satisfaction by national ranking organization Press Ganey, and is accredited by the Joint Commission. CCH attracts more than 300 physicians in almost all disciplines, with leading edge technology, including the largest and strongest MRI in Michigan. Employing 1050 full- and part-time staff, CCH reported $96,471,284 in unrestricted revenue in fiscal year 2008. As a not-for-profit hospital, Chelsea Community Hospital reinvests its profits back into the community through programs to serve the poor and uninsured, manage chronic conditions like diabetes, health education and promotion initiatives, and outreach for the elderly. In Fiscal Year 2008, this included nearly $520,000 in such community benefits.

Please visit cch.org/ for more information on the many programs and services offered at CCH.

Freedom Imaging Systems has been a pioneer in the field of document management since 1995. Evolving with the dynamic industry of enterprise content management, Freedom offers small and large businesses alike the tools they need to streamline their business processes. Freedom provides everything a business needs to collect, capture, store and manage data of any kind. In 1995, Freedom created the first version of RICAR (Record Image Capture And Retrieval), their breakthrough document management solution.

RICAR is fully scalable and is easily modified to fit the needs of any type of business. RICAR processes and manages documents ranging from employment applications to explanation of benefits records, for customers ranging from car dealerships to clinical laboratories. RICAR is a software system that can be utilized among many fields and across every department. RICAR also provides users with a complete audit trail making regulatory compliance effortless.

For additional information please contact:
Freedom Imaging Systems
Phone: 734-327-5600
Freedom Contact page