Promoting the online use of radiology appropriateness criteria.

Radiology appropriateness criteria and practice guidelines seek to promote the cost-effective use of radiology procedures and interventions and can be most useful when integrated with electronic patient records and order-entry systems. The task of translating practice guidelines into computer-based formats can highlight deficiencies and lead to revisions that make them more useful. Computer-based practice guidelines can include additional didactic material, such as images, videos, sounds, simulations, and links to bibliographic databases. Given patient data, information systems can select the most appropriate intervention automatically; some systems can function autonomously. Knowledge representation schemes can make appropriateness criteria available across a wide variety of computer platforms. Internet-based tools can allow developers to collaborate across an institution or around the globe. Information systems can bring appropriateness criteria to physicians at the point of care. The use of standardized approaches is important to ensure that appropriateness criteria reach the broadest possible audience and that such efforts can be incorporated easily into automated systems.