XDS in healthcare: Could it lead to a duplication problem? Field study from GVR Sweden

Abstract

Managing different registries and repositories within healthcare regions grows the risk of having almost the same information but with different status and with different content. This is due to the fact that when medical information is created it´s done in a dynamical process that will lead to that information will change its contents during lifetime within the "active" healthcare phase. The information needs to be easy accessible, being the platform for making the medical decisions transparent. In the Region Västra Götaland (VGR), Sweden, data is shared from 29 X-ray departments with different Picture Archive and Communication Systems (PACS) and Radiology Information Systems (RIS) systems through the Infobroker solution, that's acts as a broker between the actors involved. Request/reports from RIS are stored as DIgital COmmunication in Medicine (DICOM)-Structured Reports (SR) objects, together with the images. Every status change within this activities are updated within the Information Infrastructure based on Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) mission. Cross-enterprise Document Sharing for Imaging (XDS-I) were the registry and the central repository are the components used for sharing medical documentation. The VGR strategy was not to apply one regional XDS-I registry and repository, instead VGR applied an Enterprise Architecture (EA) intertwined with the Information Infrastructure for the dynamic delivery to consumers. The upcoming usage of different Regional XDS registries and repositories could lead to new ways of carrying out shared work but it can also lead into "problems". XDS and XDS-I implemented without a strategy could lead to increased numbers of status/versions but also duplication of information in the Information Infrastructure.