Building an outpatient imaging center: a case study at Genesis Healthcare System, part 1

In the first of two parts, this article provides an outline of key steps in creating a freestanding diagnostic imaging center (Genesis HealthCare System located in Zanesville, OH) and provides details on a few of the significant processes. The following are highlighted in this article: Overview, market assessment, facility design, and equipment selection. Part 2 will feature operational process improvements. The length of the Genesis project extended to about 18 months due to the added services of urgent care and a community education and meeting facility. The project began in July 2005 and was completed in January 2006 (if the project was focused only on imaging, it could have been complete in about 8 to 10 months, see Figure 1 for a typical summary work task timeline). This multi-service outpatient center, The Genesis Healthplex on Maple, was created in an existing facility that was once a large grocery store. A significant goal that came out of the project was to create the perfect customer experience. The customer is defined as: Patients, patient families, referring physicians and their staff, radiologists, and employees. This was achieved by bringing the 3 entities of people (patient/family, staff, and physicians) working closely together by utilizing well identified processes and employing technology that the market demands. Only when these areas overlap and work together will the perfect customer experience be created. See Figure 2.