<title>Evolution of the clinical review station for enterprise-wide multimedia radiology reporting</title>

Abstract

Efforts to develop Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) for the last ten years have concentrated mainly on developing systems for primary interpretation of digital radiological images. Much less attention has been paid to the clinical aspects of the radiology process. Clinical radiology services are an important component of the overall care delivery process, providing information and consultation services to referring physicians, the customers of radiology, in a timely fashion to aid in care decisions. Information management systems (IMS) are playing an increasingly central role in the care delivery process. No suitable commercial PACS or IMS products were available that could effectively provide for the requirements of the clinicians. We endeavored to fill this void at our institution by developing a system to deliver images and text reports electronically on-demand to the referring physicians. This system has evolved substantially since initial deployment eight years ago. As new technologies become available they are evaluated and integrated as appropriate to improve system performance and manageability. Not surprisingly, the internet and World Wide Web (WWW) technology has had the greatest impact on system design in recent years. Additional features have been added over time to provide services for teleradiology, teaching, and research needs. We also discovered that these value-added services give us a competitive edge in attracting new business to our department. Commercial web-based products are now becoming available which do a satisfactory job of providing many of these clinical services. These products are evaluated for integration into our system as they mature. The result is a system that impacts positively on patient care.