Impact of cross-enterprise data sharing on portable media with decentralised upload of DICOM data into PACS.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate portable media utilisation for image data sharing between enterprises. To predict the costs required to keep up with the trend. To identify related problems.

METHODS

A software package was developed to include patient image data from CD into our normal workflow. The trend in the workload of CDs that were uploaded into a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) over 89 months was analysed. The average number of images per month (and per investigation) was calculated to provide the estimation of storage and cost required in the whole process.

RESULTS

All Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) files can be read from compact disc (CD) on any workstation in the hospital, processed quickly to the central server and checked after storage using the software tool. A total of 33,982,404 images from 88,952 CDs have been stored into the PACS system. In recent years, the stored images have reached an average of 4.2 terabytes (TB) uncompressed annually.

CONCLUSION

Integrated information about patients is clearly needed to provide easy and timely access to these data. The steadily growing storage can be solved by a more automated approach to portable media handling or the installation and acceptance of network-based transfer using cross-enterprise document sharing (XDS).

KEY POINTS

• Rapid assimilation of external imaging into a PACS system is essential. • But data distribution using portable media also carries some disadvantages. • A DICOM data uploader incorporates studies from portable media to hospital workflow. • Automated media handling or XDS should solve the steadily growing storage problem. • Software improvements will facilitate the steady increase in the amount of CDs processed.