Horizon Health Network speeds up MRI services with new pilot project

Calling it good news for the entire province, a new pilot project out of the Miramichi Regional Hospital is reducing wait times and backlogs when it comes to MRI services.

Horizon Health Network says that the number of patients being seen has almost doubled since 2021 -- increasing from 56 patients to 83 patients now being able to get imaging per week.

“We went through the full process from end to end,” explained Medical Imaging Regional Director Zach Kilburn.

Adding that it was a collaborative initiative with everyone from front-line workers to stakeholders weighing in to find a solution.

“Team members made suggestions whether it was revising the form that physicians are completing, adding improvements there, streamlining the clerical workflow,” he said.

“We’ve also added some team members, changed some scheduling both for patients and for staff members and most recently added some infrastructure upgrades to the MRI itself.”

Kilburn says the Miramichi Hospital has been working on this project for about nine months and it has seen success not just in the community, but in the province.

“In Miramichi, they’ve really tackled their wait times significantly as well as their backlog, to the point now where we’re actually sending patients from other parts of the province of New Brunswick to have their imaging completed there,” he said.

Patients willing to travel for MRI imaging are able to reduce wait times even further. Officials say this is also open to patients at Vitalité facilities.

Kilburn says that last year alone over 1,600 patients were scanned from areas like Moncton, Bathurst and even Fredericton.

He says that timely access to MRI imaging has a positive domino effect on patients.

“Medical imaging as a whole and particularly MRI is very important in helping that patient get on to the next phase of their care so if they’re waiting for surgery,” said Kilburn.

“If they’re waiting to see a specialist often they need those imaging exams completed prior to so the faster we can get our patients through the less time they’re waiting for action and to move onto the next phase of their care.”

Improvements are expected to be made to Horizon’s other four major hospitals later this year and Kilburn says the plan is to take the proven improvements and apply them to other areas, as well, like CT scans.

“This has been a great initiative for the community of Miramichi and the province as a whole, but there’s always things that we can do better and always things that we’re going to look to improve upon.”