The strategy to be "paperless" via a cost-effective filmless plan

Creation and storage of standards-based pre-scanning patient questionnaires in PACS as DICOM objects

Radiology departments around the country have completed the first evolution to digital imaging by becoming filmless. The next step in this evolution is to become truly paperless. Both patient and non-patient paperwork has to be eliminated in order for this transition to occur. A paper-based set of patient pre-scanning questionnaires were replaced with web-based forms for use in an outpatient imaging center. We discuss this process by which questionnaire elements are converted into SNOMED-CT terminology concepts, stored for future use, and sent to PACS in Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) format to be permanently stored with the relevant study in the DICOM image database.

Creation and usability testing of a web-based pre-scanning radiology patient safety and history questionnaire set

Recent advances in technology have significantly changed radiology workflow. The main focus of these changes has been the transition from hard copy film to digital imaging. The next transition will be a "paperless" transformation. Web-based versions of the current paper-based patient safety and history questionnaires were created using PHP and MySQL. Two rounds of usability testing using volunteers were completed using tablet PCs. Volunteers were comprised of ten individuals. Ages of volunteers ranged from 27 to 60 years, and there were eight males and two females. The majority of users had at least a Master's degree and was considered to have a computer experience level of a programmer. Eighty percent of the users agreed that the web-based questionnaires and tablet PCs were easy to use. Text input through the writing recognition window and scrolling proved to be the least usable sections of the questionnaires. The new web-based system was found to be a very usable system by our participants. The questionnaires were easy to use, easy to navigate, and easy to read. Individual elements such as radio buttons and checkboxes did not fair as well but were due to their small size. Difficulty with the writing recognition interface is an inherent issue with the Windows XP Tablet Edition operating system.