MRI Magnet Testing/Go Live - Full Service 19

MRI Magnet Testing to "Go Live"-Physicist Testing and Approval, Staff Training and More - MRI Consultant Module #19

Everyone who has ever represented owners/physicians/clients who have gone through months of planning, some teeth gnashing, anxiety, fear of failure, excitement and implementation, and the many steps necessary to make the start-up of an MRI Imaging Center project a reality has come to love the MRI-related term "Go Live."

The term "Go-Live" heralds the pivotal day in the buildout of the MRI Imaging Center. It is the day you will finally be able to scan actual patients requiring an MRI study.

Even better, if you have done everything right, you will be reimbursed for the scans you perform that day and all the days that follow.

Let us discuss the steps leading up to your "GO LIVE" day since they delivered your MRI 4 to 6 weeks before "Go Live."

It has been a busy time!

Your MRI Magnet was delivered successfully into your MRI Magnet Room, along with additional supplies in crates from the MRI supplier that will steadily be installed on the stripped-down magnet that was delivered.

The Room measurements and 5 Gauss field line placements were confirmed with your MRI supplier, planning, and project personnel.

There be an MRI engineer on site who has kept your MRI on life support while the MRI Magnet Room knockout wall was repaired, including shielding, and the room was "Buttoned Up" as they say (two weeks is standard to button up the wall )

The RF Shield was tested and passed. Your field engineers installed the Waveguide, and the Cryogen Venting was hooked to the MRI unit. All the MRI RF shield penetrations, such as overhead lighting, acoustic stereo system, remote contrast Injection, and all penetration panel wall openings, were completed and in place.

The full MRI technologist control room and the crucial MRI equipment room were completed and brought online.

The overhead ceiling structures are in place and ready to accept cable trays. HVAC systems are online and meet room temperature and humidity requirements.

Power for the MRI compressor and chiller are online.

The MRI equipment room supplemental cooling has been turned on and is being monitored.

All electrical outlets are fully functional.

Your MRI Magnet has been installed fully, and the MRI field engineers have satisfactorily tested the IP addresses and successfully sent test images to the teleradiology group without losing file integrity. The teleradiology group has sent mock reports back to your MRI center within the acceptable period your group has set.

Safety signage will be posted on the doors and hallways of Zones 1-4 and other "no admittance" areas, and other safety placards will also be in place.

Your staff members will have been educated on necessary safety procedures.

From now on, staff must strictly enforce room key control to ensure no one can wander into the MRI Magnet and equipment rooms.

The lead MRI technologist will be in place the month to two months before the "Go Live" of the MRI.

The lead MRI Technologist will have written Patient Scanning, policies and procedures, and safety protocols by this point.

The lead technologist will have ordered supplies. The locked imaging scan contrast cabinet will be secured, probably wall-mounted in the MRI operator control room, and the contrast will be in stock.

All control room operators' MRI laptops and desktop peripherals, such as scanners and printers, have been put online.

We will test all desktop devices and programs supplied by the MRI Imaging supplier. Finally getting closer, the MRI is "topped off" with liquid helium.

Final 10 days before "Go Live"

The field engineer for the MRI supplier has been assembling, cryogen fueling, testing your MRI IP address, and verifying the send-and-receive process with the teleradiology firm.

They will also have completed some scanning tests and signaled that they are ready to turn the MRI unit over to you for acceptance!

Does it work as it should? No worries, you will have asked the MRI engineer a month or two before when they thought they might turn the unit over to you. They gave you a date, and you contacted your state-certified Physicist, who is now scheduled on-site for one day to test your MRI image quality and potential for artifacts.

The Physicist has brought either their MRI Phantom (a fluid-filled cylindrical test block that replicates the responses that would be provided by a human when receiving an MRI) or the MRI Phantom that you purchased in advance at our suggestion (which you will need to buy for in-house Testing and quality control). The MRI Physicist will spend the day testing your MRI's functioning and quality to verify whether the Images are acceptable.

Your Physicist should provide final positive approval of your new MRI's correct functioning. If image artifact issues arise, the MRI engineer will check for problems with the MRI unit while the Physicist is still on site and potentially make some adjustments. This should only take one day.

For the next five days or so, your MRI Technologist plus any additional full or part-time Technologist staff will be trained on using your new equipment by a member of the MRI manufacturer training team, which you will have scheduled approximately two months in advance.

It is wise to have a well-trained backup technologist available for sick days, high-volume days, education days off, vacation days, and whenever you need future assistance before committing to a second full or part-time technologist.

Plan for the future, for technologist backup, and for possibly longer, more flexible MRI Imaging Center business hours (earlier or later in the day, some weekend hours)? And follow the scan volume projected on the Imaging Center Financial and Business Viability Analysis (section 3).

After MRI training, assuming there are no artifacts, the image quality is excellent, and the machine is working as designed, the MRI Magnet can be signed for with the MRI Imaging Vendor as acceptable.

Your lease agreement date begins, or your purchase is now in place.

If you have managed care insurance agreements in place and patients on your MRI Imaging Center's schedule, let the MRI studies begin!

 

In this Consultation and Assistance Module, we will address

• The absolute must-do's and must-not-do's for this project period leading to the time of "GO LIVE." We can work with you and provide that checklist based on our experience and what we learned from you about your project.
• Why is the Physicist's availability and Testing of your MRI unit essential and beneficial to you both in the short and long term? Additional understanding: they work for you, not any regulatory agency.
• Why do you need to work with a physicist you can contact whenever you need them?
• The MRI Magnet supplier should pay for crucial MRI technologist training leading to the GO LIVE day.
• We will provide industry standards information so you know what your MRI vendor should supply. We can negotiate the necessary annual training days if they are not provided.
• MRI Department Policies and Procedures.
• MRI zone safeguards and MRI Magnet Room Security Procedures.
• Patient notifications of MRI Center Physician Ownership.
• This section provides information on the numerous and varied MRI supplies and their costs, which are often overlooked and will be necessary from day one.
• Interior and exterior signage, safety, wayfinding, building and campus.
• Patient Education Materials
• Community announcement and creation of newsworthy free public relations.
• How can you use free corporate advertising and press materials to your benefit?

 

Insurer Agreements – Full Service – 12

Connectivity Technologies – Full Service – 16

Center Accreditation – Full Service – 17