If you’ve ever had an MRI scan, you know that patients go to a specific room or building (I’ve even seen them in trailers in the parking lots of medical offices) and use the equipment in that room or building. IMRIS, a global leader in intraoperative imaging technologies, designed a ceiling-mounted intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) system that specifically allows for imaging during surgical procedures. It brings the equipment directly to the patient rather than the other way around – it is the only iMRI system in the world with a magnet that travels on a ceiling-mounted rail system between the diagnostic room and adjacent operating rooms. Check out this innovative process in IMRIS’ customer success video below.
The system gives surgeons high-quality diagnostic images during surgical procedures directly in the operating room. It significantly adds to the surgical team’s knowledge during procedures, leading to improved patient outcomes.
Searching for a Tech Upgrade
In search of a web-based interface with improved accessibility, IMRIS also sought better ways to gather and analyze metrics and data about service calls, response times and time to site. The company’s legacy QAD Mobile Field Service system was no longer supported and while management briefly looked at other solutions, they knew that the productivity gains and expansive options for new and unique applications made QAD Adaptive ERP and Adaptive User Experience (UX) the right choice.
“The QAD team introduced us to the Adaptive UX solution,” commented IMRIS Director of IT Chris Myers. “When I saw Adaptive UX, I knew that it would be a disservice to our organization not to have this technology available to the users. I knew this was important for our users to have the ability to build extensions of the application.”
Setting a Trend in the Medical Device Industry
IMRIS is a trendsetter in the medical device market as it embraces QAD Adaptive ERP with confidence. Deloitte recently quantified trends in technology for the life sciences industry and looked at how leaders in the industry are elevating fundamental business processes in a recent article, “Tech Trends 2021: A Life Sciences Perspective”. IMRIS is on the leading edge with its QAD upgrade.
IMRIS upgraded its ERP solution to QAD Adaptive ERP and implemented Adaptive UX built on the QAD Enterprise Platform. The company streamlined business processes and improved its management and reporting of metrics and KPIs. Management was especially interested in having user-centric navigation and the ability to create system extensions enabled by the QAD Enterprise Platform.
Using the QAD Enterprise Platform to extend and create new applications resulted in user screens personalized by role, activity and user. IMRIS staff can quickly access the data they need based on their organizational role with ease. Having user-centric navigation also improves the user experience.
The Adaptive User Experience has delivered an enhanced experience for IMRIS, especially in the area of embedded analytics. Now management can analyze service call KPIs and enhance the customer experience. “I could see right away that there were real benefits from the new technology. We owed it to our users to deliver these benefits as quickly as possible,” explained Myers. The solution has also simplified clinical procedures by streamlining systems access for the clinical team.
“I went to our Senior Leadership Team to sell the business case for an upgrade, and one of the things that pushed us over the edge was, I said, the productivity gain, that I believe we’re going to see, within all of our departments when we get everyone on this, is going to be tenfold. And you’re going to have happier employees. They’re going to be able to get their job done quicker and be able to streamline processes,” added Myers.
A Team Approach
The QAD development team worked closely with IMRIS to customize applications to fit the company’s requirements while still allowing for future upgrades. They are creating scalable and dependable applications without creating version lock-in issues.
“For me, I can use the core QAD functionality, which I know and love, with a new interface that’s easier to use and easier to customize and extend,” noted IMRIS Senior Business Analyst and Project Manager April Bardsley. “I think two of the biggest metrics for us were reducing the amount of time for recording a service call and reducing the number of clicks required,” stated Bardsley. “And with the new Adaptive UX, we have definitely seen improvements.”
User feedback has been very positive, especially about the streamlined business processes and the web-based browser. The field service teams are completing their documentation quickly and easily. The IMRIS IT team agrees that the upgrade and move to QAD Adaptive ERP and the Adaptive UX was the right step in the company’s digital transformation journey. They highlight the productivity and time savings for users and the documentation of the customizations, streamlining their use.
To learn more about IMRIS’ ERP upgrade, check out their full case study.
