Focus: Anna Jaques keeps pace in high-tech medicine

NEWBURYPORT — Over the past year Anna Jaques Hospital has added state-of-the-art technology, which has increased the quality of care patients receive and is rivaling larger city hospitals.

"As a patient you will see a big difference," vice president of marketing and public relations Deb Chiaravalloti said. "The high technology has created better diagnosis, imaging and faster reporting times."

Over the last year Anna Jaques has added digital mammography and x-ray equipment to each of its three locations, a new MRI suite, high-definition endoscopy equipment that broadcasts onto flat-screen plasma televisions, updated diagnostic tools, new energy systems and has increased blood donor technology.

Chiaravalloti said that in the past a mammogram involved a long process of developing the film and, if not correct, the process had to be repeated before being mailed to a doctor. The new technology is creating better images in shorter time, and that digital image is taken and the results reported to the physician on the same day.

With digital mammography and x-rays, doctors can enhance parts of the image, increase contrast and manipulate the image to increase quality.

"The exposure to the patient is much less and we rarely need to repeat the images now," Chiaravalloti said.

Patients will also be happy with new MRI technology, which is quieter and more open so patients feel less claustrophobic and testing is faster.

Chiaravalloti said Anna Jaques is constantly keeping up with the trends in the ever-changing medical technology field and hopes to integrate the fastest and most-efficient machines and tools to make doctors' jobs easier.

"Technology develops so fast that not all hospitals can stay ahead of it sometimes," Chiaravalloti said. "We are constantly bringing high-tech machines into our suits and looking at new technological advances."

In the future Anna Jaques will continue its high standard of care by constantly evaluating technology as it is invented, Chiaravalloti said. From small scopes for minimally invasive surgeries to shortening emergency department wait times, patients will continue to notice the difference.

"Diagnostic imaging is an area we are always looking at," Chiaravalloti said. "As technology advances we will pull it into the hospital and continue to look at it as it develops and evaluate the evidence as it is being used."

Photos

Under CEO Delia O'Connor, Anna Jaques Hospital has gone from uncertainty to an air of confidence and hope. Staff photo