A network of computers dedicated to the storage, retrieval, distribution, and presentation of images. A PACS system provides a single point of access for images and their associated data. It also interfaces with existing hospital information systems, such as the hospital information system (HIS) and the radiology information system (RIS).
Published in Chapter:
An Exploration of Demographic Inconsistencies in Healthcare Information Environments
Larbi Esmahi (Athabasca University, Canada), James W. Edwards (Agfa HealthCare, Canada), and Elarbi Badidi (United Arab Emirates University, UAE)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 12
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-889-5.ch071
Abstract
As the global economy and global business practices increase, individuals tend to be more transient. Their medical histories are an important precursor to successful health care provisioning. Contingent upon this medical history record is the successful integration of data from varied sources, including the mobile patient’s information. This information must be portable, presentable, and independent of the initial data program from which it was obtained. By far, the greatest concern relates to data inconsistency and subsequent inaccuracy in an environment of disparate systems. In the next section of this article, we will discuss the Health Level Seven communication protocol. In the third section, we will discuss the protocol DICOM. The application of these protocols into solutions for healthcare information repositories is presented in the fourth section, where both PACS and RIS systems are discussed. The problem of Data Disparity that causes inconsistencies in the intersystem communications will be discussed in the fifth section. The design of the XML Bus solution will be presented in the sixth section. The successes and shortcomings of this design are discussed in the conclusion.