XPRM
The new XIMIS Productivity Resource Management (XPRM) product is an innovative, robust, web-based collection of tools that allows the imaging department manager to effectively manage department resources and activities utilizing a powerful relational database. The tools are modular and include five basic categories, ASSETS & EQUIPMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES, DEPARTMENT FINANCES, REGULATORY COMPLIANCE, and PHYSICS APPLICATIONS. The tools can be accessed from anywhere, anytime allowing efficient management for single or multiple facilities. All internet connections and site data are completely secure and safe. Note, at this time, some of the tools mentioned in the product description are still in the development stage and are not currently available for release.
Assets and Equipment
This collection of tools consists of General Asset Inventory, Imaging Equipment Inventory, Radiation Protective Device Inventory and Materials Management.
This module allows efficient management of any departmental resources that the manager wants to track. The most common use in the imaging department would be to track imaging equipment, protective devices such as lead aprons, gloves, etc., but the program is capable of tracking any material assets. This module works with the finance module to collect and analyze department costs.
Human Resources
This collection of tools consists of Personnel Certification Documentation, Personnel Compliance Documentation, Personnel CME Tracker, Personnel Work Schedules, and Personnel Work-Time Analysis/Optimization.
This module will assist in the analysis and reporting of human resource activity including staff work time, paid time off, over time, on-call time, flex-time, etc. so that the manager can effectively and efficiently manage human resources by job position, job level or by departments. The manager can input any costs associated with each job position/title and job-level to calculate or project costs for merit increases, staff-level changes, increases or decreases in staff, overtime, locums, PRNs, etc. This data can be integrated with other modules to evaluate department costs for budgeting and reporting as desired. It is not a time-clock application so it is not a duplication of human resource department activity. In addition, the Human Resource Module can track personnel certifications, continuing education credits, certificates, state licenses, etc. so that all required personnel documentation is kept current. The system can be setup to notify personnel via email when something is due for renewal so all departmental personnel compliance issues are kept current.
Department Finance
This collection of tools consists of Department Budgets, Equipment Cost Tracking, Equipment Depreciation, Machine Maintenance Cost Tracking, Service Contract Cost Tracking, and Department Cost Projections.
In short, costs associated with the department can be efficiently collected and analyzed for projections, trends, budgets, etc. Data can be exported to MS Excel for more analysis and manipulation as desired. The product includes extensive reporting capabilities.
Regulatory Compliance
This collection of tools consists of X-ray Machine Compliance Tracking, Personnel Radiation Monitor Tools (electronic analysis from data downloads from personnel monitor vendor), ALARA Program - Calculations and Analysis, Equipment Calibration Tracking, Nuclear Medicine Compliance Tools, Radioactive Materials Compliance, State/NRC Inspection Tracking, RAM License/X-ray Registration Tracking, Diagnostic Medical Error Reduction Analysis and JCAHO Root Cause Analysis.
In general, this module offers an effective way to manage important compliance issues. For example, the Personnel Monitor module allows the radiation safety officer (RSO), physicist or manager to download personnel exposure records from the authorized personnel monitoring service. The user can then sort the data by department (badge-series), facility or any way desired to analyze the exposure data. The user can easily establish personnel exposure levels (ALARA Levels I and II), for an entire facility or for individual departments (recommended) based on exposure histories. This allows the RSO to quickly see and notify (email or written) any personnel that are outside the established exposure limits or identify personnel that are always late returning monitors, etc. Established exposure levels can be adjusted if desired as personnel exposure data is accumulated. The program will provide a number of useful calculations and reports that will help the RSO effectively manage the Radiation Protection Program including the ALARA component.
Physics Applications
This collection of tools, developed to be utilized by a qualified medical physicist, is an extension of the Regulatory Compliance tools and consists of X-ray Machine Parameter Comparison and Optimization, Patient Entrance-Skin Exposure Comparisons and Analysis, Technique Chart Generator, Fetal Dose Calculations, Image Quality Analysis, Medical Display Device QC, Facility Shielding Design Based on TG-147, Nuclear Medicine QC Tracker, and ACR Accreditation Modules.
A number of these tools are integrated with the compliance modules to effectively utilize the physicist’s data that is collected during regulatory compliance surveys. Note that the physicist’s data can be uploaded from MS Access or Excel files into the program for compliance reports and analysis. The physicist’s compliance data and reports will now be electronic and integrated with other modules for easy access by the department managers or state inspectors from anywhere. Situations such as fetal exposure can be quantified by the medical physicist using measured data and the process studied and improved using the root-cause analysis required by JCAHO. Overall, these tools will allow the physicist to be more effective and helpful to imaging department management.