Mr. Herman Oosterwijk, Msc, MBA

Herman Oosterwijk is president of OTech Inc., a healthcare imaging and IT training and consulting company based in the Dallas, TX, metroplex.

Herman has been involved with PACS for more than 35 years, initially as a PACS product manager working for Philips and Kodak, and for the past 25 years as a teacher/consultant.

He has participated in several DICOM, HL7, and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) working groups and has published more than 10 textbooks and study guides on these topics. He is a frequent blogger, has written more than 200 articles, and speaks at international conferences. Herman has taught in more than 20 countries about PACS, DICOM, HL7, IHE, and FHIR.

A complete CV can be found at his website www.otechimg.com, as well as the latest seminar and training schedule.

Articles by this author
Tools a must for troubleshooting healthcare IT
March 18, 2013 -- Healthcare IT systems are not plug and play, and they never will be. As a result, healthcare imaging and IT professionals need to master the use of tools such as test systems, simulators, validators, sniffing software, and test datasets to ensure data integrity.  Discuss
To certify or not to certify, that is the question
January 24, 2013 -- The recent buzz around the new Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise certification caused me to step back and think about the value of certification, and how it might affect -- and potentially better -- the implementation of healthcare imaging and information technology.  Discuss
Storing documents in PACS or RIS is a bad idea
October 25, 2012 -- Managing documents is not a new issue, as document management systems were in place long before and have existed in parallel with PACS and other department information systems, according to a new column by PACS education expert Herman Oosterwijk of OTech.  Discuss
PACS administrator certification: CIIP or PARCA?
September 20, 2007 -- Currently, PACS administrator certification is available from the PACS Administrators Registry and Certification Association (PARCA) and the Certified Imaging Informatics Professional (CIIP) program. Herman Oosterwijk of OTech in Aubrey, TX, compares both programs, taking a close look at their differences in structure and requirements for education and experience.  Discuss
CR/DR image quality: Issues and concerns
April 12, 2007 -- For healthcare professionals who are jumping into digital or computed radiography (DR/CR), it is important to understand image quality issues. Herman Oosterwijk lists the most common issues and describes how to avoid them when introducing CR and DR technology.  Discuss
Defining PACS policy and procedures
April 19, 2006 -- When PACS networks lack proper policies and procedures, the result is suboptimal performance that can affect patient care. Herman Oosterwijk explains what a comprehensive set of PACS policies and procedures should cover in our featured excerpt from PACS Policy Manual, recently published by education and consulting firm OTech Health Care Technology Solutions.  Discuss
Image quality is still job one for PACS
August 31, 2001 -- Along with ease of use, image accessibility, and hanging protocols, image quality remains a crucial factor in PACS implementation. But quality control discussions have faded somewhat with advances in technology. PACS guru Herman Oosterwijk shows you what still needs to be done.
Technology Update: DICOM vs. HL7
July 5, 2001 -- For all the efforts to merge DICOM and HL7, the two standards remain very different entities in the area of application, its protocol structure, and information content. This article will explore some of the differences between the two standards, which may affect future efforts to integrate them.