Radiology information systems are assuming a renewed priority in hospital purchasing decisions and are being included in discussions surrounding the U.S. federal government requirements regarding "meaningful use" of electronic information exchange, according to a newly published report from market research firm KLAS of Orem, UT.
But hospitals have three different purchasing perspectives, depending on their healthcare IT priorities: an integrated RIS/electronic medical record (EMR) strategy where data are retained on a common clinical platform, an integrated RIS/PACS, or a feature-rich standalone RIS that can be interfaced with existing, installed healthcare IT components.
IT administrators are promoting RIS/EMR offerings to build a patientcentric workflow throughout an organization, while others promote RIS/PACS as an integrated solution providing end-user functionality, according to the report. Clinical decisions are dominated by the radiology department and lean more toward RIS/PACS integration with deeper operational functionality for the radiologists.
Management reporting tools, flexible scheduling, critical test results management, and mammography-related tools were the leading functionality items on the RIS wish lists of the majority of survey respondents, according to KLAS. A total of 23 RIS were evaluated.
Related Reading
Report: U.S. hospitals lag in CPOE adoption, June 22, 2010
Copyright © 2010 AuntMinnie.com
