3 research outputs found
The Impact of PACS on Radiologistsâ Work Practice
This paper identifies and analyzes how the implementation and use of picture archiving and communication system impacts radiologistsâ work practice. The study is longitudinal from 1999 to 2005 and have a qualitative perspective were data were collected by structured interviews in a total of 46. The interviews were transcribed, analyzed, and coded using grounded theory as an organizing principle. In radiologistsâ work practice, three main categories were defined: professional role, diagnostic practice, and technology in use. The changing trends within the professional role indicated that radiologists moved from a more individual professional expertise to become more of an actor in a network. The diagnostic practice changed, as reading x-ray films was seen as an art form in 1999, requiring years of training. Once everyone could view digital images, including 3-dimensional technology, it was easier for other clinicians to see and interpret the images and the skills become accessible to everyone. The change in technology in use as a result of the shift to digital images led to an increased specialization of the radiologist
Empirical Investigation of Radiologists' Priorities for PACS Selection: An Analytical Hierarchy Process Approach
Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) are being widely adopted in radiology practice. The objective of this study was to find radiologists' perspective on the relative importance of the required features when selecting or developing a PACS. Important features for PACS were identified based on the literature and consultation/interviews with radiologists. These features were categorized and organized into a logical hierarchy consisting of the main dimensions and sub-dimensions. An online survey was conducted to obtain data from 58 radiologists about their relative preferences. Analytical hierarchy process methodology was used to determine the relative priority weights for different dimensions along with the consistency of responses. System continuity and functionality was found to be the most important dimension, followed by system performance and architecture, user interface for workflow management, user interface for image manipulation, and display quality. Among the sub-dimensions, the top two features were: security, backup, and downtime prevention; and voice recognition, transcription, and reporting. Structured reporting was also given very high priority. The results point to the dimensions that can be critical discriminators between different PACS and highlight the importance of faster integration of the emerging developments in radiology into PACS.close2