Dear Healthcare IT Insider,
Innovation! It's a great topic for a spring newsletter.
Search engines are similar to telephone directories -- you can find the information you're seeking, as long as you know where and how to look.
Just as the Yellow Pages are only as good as its categories and indexing, search engines are only as good as their algorithms. With respect to PACS, searching for a particular image can be a time-consuming exercise in frustration. Many PACS search engines leave a lot to be desired.
So we're pleased to profile a company that has created software to make the process of searching for an image in a PACS both easier and quicker. Click here to read our company profile of Softek Solutions and its Illuminate software, which we're bringing to you as this edition's Insider Exclusive.
Also impressive is decision-support software for use when ordering exams. It's an efficient way to reduce the number of inappropriate procedures ordered, while educating clinicians at the same time. Editor-in-Chief Brian Casey describes one such application in this story, based on a presentation at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual meeting in Chicago.
If your radiologists need help making more accurate decisions about whether to recall mammography patients, you'll be intrigued by software in development at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Like the Softek product featured in our profile, this software also mines data, utilizing all the mammography findings in radiology reports to help mammographers improve their sensitivity and specificity. Click here to read more.
Keep your suggestions coming!
