Presentations 2020: OMFS

395 - Radiology: Improving safety and efficiency of inter-hospital image transfer and storage.

M Elbashier M Paczesky JP Wells
Presented by: Maysoon Elbashier
Morriston Hospital

Introduction Since the all-Wales roll out of new x-ray viewing software, the use of a ‘quarantine’ folder to view images from other hospitals has presented some challenges. The most significant of these is that images, which have likely been used for clinical decision making, are deleted as the folder reaches capacity. An additional problem was that users required to be logged in with their personal username rather than the default generic profile which added time to retrieving images. This project describes the workflows implemented to improve efficiency and the availability of images. Methods A meeting with the PACS administrator and a subsequent meeting with the Fuji application specialist greatly assisted in defining the requirements of the OMFS service and generating workflows. These were discussed with end users and documented in a departmental policy document. Results A daily worklist including all patients for discussion on ward meetings is now in use and updated daily. Clinicians are granted direct access to the systems of all hospitals in south Wales. This allows the images and related reports to be viewed at in their original location where they are retained as part of the patient clinical record. End users were trained and a departmental protocol was published to promote the use of the newly established workflow. Conclusion The intended inter-hospital solution for south Wales was direct access to images in the storage of the originating hospital rather than the ‘quarantine +/- import’ method that is in routine use. The quarantine method caries the risk of images not being available at follow-up or for the defence of medical claims. System managers are not keen to routinely duplicate images that are already stored on other systems for cost and workload reasons. Challenging time consuming and safety flaws in patient care pathways, rather than accepting or tolerating them, can yield positive outcomes that promote efficiency and reduce risk.
Consent Statement: There are no details on individual patients reported within the abstract.

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