As healthcare systems consolidate, radiology systems often become increasingly complex, resulting in an electronic patchwork of multiple separate but connected information systems, said presenter Dr. Murray Becker, PhD.
"In addition, radiology has become a 24 x 7 endeavor," he said. "So the smooth function of these complex systems is mission critical."
The University Radiology researchers sought to investigate the source of system downtimes and classify the nature, extent, and severity of these system failures. They assessed a live enterprise RIS/PACS that integrates more than 900,000 studies from one academic medical center, four separate community hospitals, 10 outpatient imaging centers, and a teleradiology service into a single workflow.
The researchers were able to draw a number of conclusions from their analysis. For example, downtimes are relatively common and mostly unscheduled. Fortunately, however, these outages do not typically last long or significantly affect workflow.
Becker will share additional analysis of system downtimes during his presentation.
