Typical Process Flow

Patient Registration

Patient demographic and insurance information is collected and input into the HIS/RIS

New Order

The physician orders a particular procedure for the patient

Verify Order

Radiology verifies the patient's demographics

New Requested Procedure

The physician's order is further defined specifically to the patient's needs

Modality Worklist

Automates the transfer of information from any HIS/RIS/EMR to unlimited modalities

Department Scheduler

Queried by the modality worklist to compile its list

Patient Verification

The technologist verifies the patients identity is correct and begins the procedure

Modality Performed Procedure Step

Procedure is started and images are captured

Performing Quality Control/Assurance

QA/QC is performed and the exam is 'completed'

Storage Commitment

The images are safeguarded at the archive in a manner that is sage so that they can eventually be deleted from the local acquisition modality

Adding Procedure Steps

Example: CT is schedule w/o contrast and based on clinical observations, a decision is made to add a contrast step

Multiple Procedures Scheduled vs Single Performed

A technologist may segment a study into multiple orders so that the patient is not exposed to more radiation then necessary

Speech Recognition

Software that is about 95% accurate, requiring edits to be made

Dictation

The process of the radiologist creating the report of what they are seeing

Immediate Reporting

The radiologist reviews the report immediately after the dictation, makes corrections and signs off so that it can be available for the physician immediately

Batch Reporting

A radiologist might dictate a whole batch of exams and then correct them as a batch

Transcriptionist Reporting

The reports are forwarded to a transcriptionist who really works more as a 'correctionalist' to perform the corrections

Prelim Report

Preformed based on preliminary diagnosis and is later used for generating the final report

Trauma Report

Carried out under special conditions, which require performing the radiology procedure immediately

After-Hour Support

Cases that deal with situations when the patient arrives late in the evening when there are no staff radiologists available at the institution

Using Secure Connection

The radiologist has access using a secure connection to the PACS and can retrieve the images at his home viewing station as if it was a workstation in the radiology department

Router Connection

The images are sent to the radiologist, potentially using a router, which determines the radiologist to send to

Remote Reporting

Reporting away from the main radiology department

Film Scanner

Typically placed in a file room to take care of scanning priors of patients who have their files take in the past in the same hospital

Patient's Demographics

Identifying patient information on the study

Accession Number

Identifying number given to the exam so that it can be retrieved from the PACS database

Misidentification

Incorrectly identifying the patient which could impact patient data safety or medical record

Importing CDs

Somewhat simpler than scanning a film because the images on the CD have the patient information already present

DICOM Compliance

The images need to be formatted correctly to be able to import them properly

Data Integrity Problem

Adding a new set of images into PACS can create integrity problems because the accession number or MRN could clash with an  existing procedure in the database