Good working relationships with referring physicians and their office staff is the goal of the administration and staff of North Shore Magnetic Imaging Center. To achieve this goal, several services have been developed at the Center.

QUICK SCHEDULING OF APPOINTMENTS

For ease of scheduling patients for appointments at the Center, a "quick book" method has been devised. Brief pertinent information is first needed from the physician’s office. This can be telephoned or faxed over to the Center, then the patient calls the Center to actually schedule the appointment. This alleviates time spent on the phone by the physician’s office staff and allows the patient the time to review their calendar before calling for the appointment.

FAST REPORT TURNAROUND

Reports are generally available within a twenty-four hour turnaround. Routinely, these reports are faxed over to the ordering physician’s office, with a "hard" copy following in the mail. A report review telephone system is in place to allow referring physicians access to recently dictated scans.

ANNUAL BREAKFAST/LUNCHEON

Annually, the administration and staff of North Shore Magnetic Imaging Center hosts a breakfast/luncheon for referring physicians and their office staff. It is a great opportunity to tour the facility and get to meet staff members. Guest speakers address issues that are of relevance to the medical community during the breakfast/luncheon.

CME LECTURES

CME lectures are offered to referring physicians and allied health professionals by the MRI radiologists. The subjects offered are generally new developments in magnetic resonance imaging and how to apply them to improve patient care. The lectures are usually in the evening at an off-site location.

FOCUS GROUPS

Focus groups are held at the Center. Groups are scheduled to get patient, office staff and referring physician feed back. Information gathered at these informal group settings is used to address any changes needed at the Center.

ELECTRONIC IMAGES 

North Shore Magnetic Imaging Center has a PACS (Picture Archival and Communications System) which enables referring physicians to view their patients' MRI scans over the internet. (Please contact Mary Ellen Tobey at metobey@nsmic.org for more information) A feature of the PACS is a "montage" that is sent with each patient report. A "montage" is a selection of key MR images chosen by the interpreting radiologist and printed on a high quality 8 " x 11" paper. These are very useful for the referring physician when discussing findings with a patient.

EMERGENCY COVERAGE

North Shore Magnetic Imaging Center is staffed seven days a week, including evenings for the ease of scheduling appointments and obtaining patient reports. An on-call schedule for emergency scans is provided by the Center.  Emergency scans during closed evening hours and observed holidays are arranged by calling the Center at 978-532-8960.

RADIOLOGIST CONSULTATION

Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, radiologists are available for consultation with physicians needing to discuss a patient’s case.