Cincinnati Children’s Radiology is excited to announce that our ultrasound department at the Liberty campus has increased its hours of operation in order to assist the Liberty expansion and the area’s fast growing population. Ultrasound is a quick, inexpensive, and safe form of imaging that can be used to evaluate numerous parts of the body for both emergent and non-emergent purposes.
Ultrasound technologists are now in-house 24 hours a day, Sunday through Thursday, and have increased daytime and evening coverage on Friday and Saturday. Overnight hours were previously covered by technologists who were “on-call” if emergent exams were needed. The weekend, evening, and overnight coverage have gradually increased over the past year in anticipation of the additional services provided with the Liberty expansion. Outpatient appointments are also available for scheduling on both Saturday and Sunday. Weekend appointments are very popular for a large number of parents who want to avoid their child missing school or having to miss work themselves for a routine, non-emergent exam.
Hiring techs to work these previous on-call hours provides patients and families, healthcare providers, as well as our radiology department with numerous benefits including:
Quicker ER visits— Emergency ultrasound coverage often was a time-consuming process. The order first had to be approved by a radiologist to determine that there was an emergent need for the exam. Then the tech had to make the drive in, turn on all the necessary equipment, and review the patient history before beginning the exam. Now we can typically perform the exam immediately after it’s ordered and the patient is properly prepped.
Staying close to home— Ultrasounds are available for outpatients, ER patients, Urgent Care, and the 42 inpatient beds the Liberty expansion is providing that allow your child to receive the specialized pediatric care he or she needs without having to transfer to the main campus.
Improved patient care— Technologists are more refreshed and prepared to perform ultrasounds on a scheduled shift rather than when they are called while trying to sleep in the middle of the night or spend time with their families on the weekend.
Easier to provide the most appropriate imaging— Physicians are a lot less hesitant when ordering ultrasounds knowing that it is no longer an inconvenience to the patients or the technologists on call. Ultrasounds can now be ordered when needed without delaying patient care with a lengthy on-call process, which is important in emergent situations.
Ultrasound orders have fewer restrictions— Ultrasound can now perform non-emergent exams, for any patient, whether coming from the ER or community healthcare provider, without needing prior approval from a radiologist to determine emergent need required to call a tech in.
ULTRASOUND’S NEW HOURS:
Sunday-Thursday: Open 24 Hours
Friday & Saturday: 7AM-1130PM
*Emergency On-Call coverage when department is closed.
Contributed by Alexandria (Ale) Bain (RDMS) and edited by Paula Bennett (RDMS).
Paula has been a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer at Cincinnati Children’s since 2003. She moved to Cincinnati after serving in the U.S. Army for six years as a Radiology Specialist and Sonographer. She has worked at several of the outpatient locations as well as the main campus. Paula enjoys working in pediatrics and takes pride in being part of one of the top pediatric hospitals in the nation. She lives in Loveland, OH with her husband and three sons.
