Where are the Next Gen PACS features?

Ms. PACS: Research. Doing research on PACS or anything related to radiology will send you in 100 hundred different directions. Which is the very opposite of the PACSman, who will send you directly to @#%^&(*), if you catch him on a bad day.

Seriously, which is the best Radiology specific search tool:

- Radiology Research

- MyPACS.net

- Yottalook.com and Yottalook app for the iPhone

- ACR Case in Point

- Dr. K. MSK Cases

- EURORAD

- Journal of Radiology Case Reports

- Pediatric Radiology

- Rad Files

- radRounds Cases

How often are these tools actually used by rads, rad techs, PACS admins, and nerdy people who like radiology IT? I know one doc, Dr. Phillip Silberberg, a pediatric radiologist, who led MyPACS.net in reads. He's a real champ because all of that work is pro bono. But most rads are not so generous with their time.

What I was looking for was:

1. the most recently tallied average on the # of cases a radiologist reads in a day (in the U.S. - had to clarify as PACSaholic has become quite international as of late - bonjour Dr. Lambert).

2. I was looking for next generation features/tools that eliminate mouse clicks and improve access to data include. After meeting with one borderline angry healthcare adminstrator, who loved to squeeze as much out of his radiologists as he could, he did make an impression with this comment on PACS: “Anytime you add a mouse click, scroll, page forward/backward, open/close, every step you add to workflow is a design defect!”

After 5 too many interviews for my article, i came across one PACS admin (lady by the way) who said: "The radiologists are going to start billing for every additional mouse click they add to PACS!" Of course they would - anything to make a few extra bucks.

The next gen tools I unearthed from the bowels of "new PACS features" were:

- touch screen

- voice commands in RIS

- voice commands to navigate PACS

- automatic registration and matching of volumetric data at different time points on

- auto-structured reporting

- auto-loading templates mapped to procedure codes

- bookmark findings/optimal image

- one click to sign reports

- critical test results management solution to delivery of critical patient findings

These are more recent innovations thanks to Apple and Microsoft:

iPhone Apps:

- 3D rendering of CT scan:  app developed by Ziosoft (www.ziosoftinc.com)

- Osirix iPhone: As difficult as it may be to give driving directions to an out of towner, it’s often more challenging for a radiologist to describe a patient’s imaging findings to a colleague. The Osirix iPhone app can actually help.  The application brings a small and easy to use DICOM viewer to the iPhone. (www.osirix-viewer.com/).

- eRoentgen Radiology Diagnosis: developed by Constantine Brocoum, M.D., a neuroradiologist, the application is a compendium of textual information listing recommended imaging studies for each item from a voluminous list of symptoms and diagnoses. (www.iatrossoftware.com)

Microsoft Courier: two-screened hinged tablet with multi-touch capability, designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers.

Thanks MAC and Microsoft. Meanwhile, are the PACS developers in hiding? Where are the 2.0 ideas? And how many radiologists have an iPhone (your kids' doesn't count). I guess GE's Jeff Immelt, a non-radiologist carrying around radiology apps, showed off his new iPhone ultrasound system called Vscan this week at the Summit 2.0 in San Fran. He called it a "smart phone" though. I thought Web 2.0 was all about collaboration. That's what Dr. Paul Chang told me in his interview Closing the Imaging Loop. When are Rads going to really explore the social side of technology - converse with their patients and referring physicians online or via Web cam embedded in PACS?!  But that would mean you can't be in pajamas.