 In this issue of the MRI newsletter we're dedicating our headline feature articles to the important issue of construction planning for MRI suites.Ahh, I can almost hear you now, "But of course you carefully plan construction to an MRI suite!"
Except that this feature is not about construction for your MRI suite, it's about how construction outside the MRI suite, when not properly anticipated and planned for, can turn your MRI into a 6 ton paperweight for days, weeks, even months! (See the News Bite below)
And next month's issue will provide information on how the design of your MRI suite enhances safety, or works to undermine your efforts by putting staff, patients and millions of dollars of equipment at risk.
Next month's issue is also one of our three fully-public issues for the year! That's right, for those of you who are 'test driving' the newsletter, next month you will get access to all of the feature articles. In May, we will return to the regular format where the feature articles are available only to subscribers.
If you've ever thought about sharing the newsletter with a friend, now is the perfect time. See 'Share The News' below to sign them up in time to get next month's issue with full access to all of the feature articles.
The next public issue won't come again until August, so if you haven't yet subscribed it will be another long wait with only the abstracts titlilating you to the content you're missing (but that your associates are reading).
Because we want you to get everything possible from this newsletter, please subscribe today.
We hope that you enjoy this month's feature articles. As always, if you have any questions about the content you find here (or if there's a topic you'd like to see us cover), please feel free to contact us.
Robert Junk, AIA
Junk Architects, PC
Invite Your Friends & Colleagues.
We are always pleased to share the newsletter with your friends. If you would like to invite a colleague to receive the complimentary version of the MRI Newsletter, please let us know and we will extend an invitation to them on your behalf.
Click here to refer a friend
Construction Near Your MRI?
Junk Architects has had the opportunity to serve as a specialty MRI consultant to another architectural firm on a major hospital renovation.
The project, a seismic upgrade to an existing hospital. The problem, one of the new structural steel braces reinforcing the building was to land right next to the existing MRI suite. The real problem, there was a 6-8 week backlog for MRI scans and even short interruptions to MRI operation would have had huge repercussions to patient care.
The solution, a comprehesive analysis of the construction impact to MRI operation and patient care pre-empting interruptions to a crucial diagnostic tool.
This project has turned out to be the perfect example proving the point in the feature article in the next column on construction planning... you don't need to be working on the MRI to impact the MRI.
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Construction Planning
By Robert Junk, AIA and Tobias Gilk
Everyone who receives this newsletter is familiar with the fact that MRI facilities require special attention in design and construction. The magnets weigh too much, the magnetic fields are too strong, and the equipment is so integral to patient care that building a new suite requires expert attention. But did you realize that construction outside the MRI suite can incapacitate the magnet, even damage its imaging capabilities?
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Universal Imaging Suite:
An Oversold Promise Or The Forthcoming Standard?
By Tobias Gilk
Hospitals and diagnostic imaging facilities are clamoring to have a promise realized. For years there has been talk, some would say a collective pipe-dream, that it would be possible to develop a universal imaging suite - a standardized suite with a modality room, control room and equipment room – that could serve MRI, CT or PET. The concept would allow healthcare providers to effectively anticipate the need for imaging and treatment modalities without having to commit to which piece of equipment was needed. The fact is that such a universal room is possible today, but demands that we substantially re-think the processes of both healthcare services and facility design.
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Another Shift Towards MRI
By Tobias Gilk
A few months ago, there were the reports in the medical journals about the elevated risks of developing cancer coming from full body CT scans and more recently the United States government has put traditional X-rays on the list of known carcinogens. Now, not only are cigarettes bad for you, but so is a chest X-ray? A vast – and somewhat misleading – oversimplification, to be sure, but is it symptomatic of an underlying desire to move from ionizing radiation diagnostic tools toward MRI, where number, frequency and dose of exams is not believed to pose any health problems?
Click here to be taken to the full article.
Articles In The Works
Over the coming year we will be sharing articles with you on a number of topics, from tools that are immediately applicable, to strategies that will help your facility on into the future. Several planned upcoming articles include:
- Safety vs. Bottom Line: Why Safety Pays
- D.I. In The O.R.: Intraoperative Imaging
- What It Takes To Implement The 4-Zone Principle
- Square Pegs - Round Holes: Retrofitting An MRI
- Hitting The Ceiling Over HIPAA-Required Walls
We Love Hearing From You!
Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments on the articles or issues you'd like to see covered.
Junk Architects, PC
802 Broadway - 5th Floor
Kansas City, MO 54105
816-472-7722
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