3 core pillars of effective information handling in the radiology sector

By: Omar Abdul-Hafiz

The radiology sector, much like all other areas of healthcare, has seen quite a great deal of development throughout the years. Since the advent of state-of-the-art technologies like CT Scanning and MRI, and their continuous development, the amount of medical data produced every year is enormous. Likewise, the ever-expanding applications of state-of-the-art telecommunication technology have brought more opportunities for faster exchange of medical information between medical staff among themselves, and between them and their patients as well.

In this article, we shall discuss 3 core pillars of effective information handling in the context of radiology. These pillars are:

• In-house information management
• Cross-facility information exchange
• Effective patient communication

 

The 3 pillars

When talking about information handling in the healthcare sector, and especially in radiology, experts usually mean three main things. First, there’s the ability to store information locally and retrieve them effectively when needed. The second is the ability to exchange medical information (e.g. radiological imagery and reports) with other medical department and facilities that sometimes even fall beyond their networks. Thirdly, there’s doctor-patient communication.

These are the three main pillars of information handling in the healthcare sector. Let us discuss each in some detail focusing on the radiology field in particular.

1. In-house information management

When it comes to information management on the local level (i.e. within the same radiological facility), there are a few important aspects where digitalization can be crucial.

This bit has to do with the old-new problem of information overload caused by the massive amount of information, including medical imagery and radiology files, that is being produced. In fact, the challenge of information overload in the radiology sector has been in discussion since the early ’90s at least, and it continues to resonate among radiology specialists to this day.

To overcome the information overload dilemma, radiology centres need to constantly up the ante of their information management capabilities. The better, more state-of-the-art the information infrastructure, the better radiologists will be able to accommodate more patient information and handle them with ease.

Aside from information storage and retrieval, radiological information also needs to be easily processed and analyzed so that you can produce clear reports that are useful for the patient’s treatment plan.

Utilizing a solid information management system can help radiology centres overcome these obstacles by digitalizing their information management processes. Under that system, patient information and documents can be easily collected, stored, sorted, and retrieved with minimum effort. This may cause less time being wasted in routine tasks and optimizing the efforts on delivering the fastest and best quality medical service possible.

2. Seamless information exchange

Other than local information management, radiologists need to be able to exchange information more smoothly with other healthcare facilities as well. In the wake of COVID-19 and the havoc it created, from fully-booked ICU’s to urgent quarantines, the healthcare sector faced a whole new level of challenge.

The challenge was the ability to exchange patient information quickly and securely among healthcare facilities across different networks. Moreover, seeing as handling radiological information requires special systems and protocols (e.g. PACS, DICOM protocols), this makes exchanging them smoothly and securely all more challenging. This is where cutting-edge information systems come in handy.

A good information system helps in establishing seamless and secure information exchange between healthcare facilities across networks. Gone are the days where healthcare staff have to deal with stacks of paperwork that can cost a lot to maintain. Nowadays, the best healthcare system is a digitalized one where patient information is available in full detail at the tip of your cursor.

And in this context, it’s worth mentioning the importance of EHR integration. The Electronic Health Record is a powerful tool for augmenting the management of patient information. Having a system with decent EHR capabilities can thus enable your medical staff to store, retrieve, and communicate patient information among different departments easily and securely.

3. Enhanced doctor-patient communication

Web portals have been proven to be very handy in making our lives easier. Likewise, if executed properly, mobile apps can be quite a ubiquitous tool that saves us a lot of time and effort. The healthcare sector is one such prominent example of this.

But, especially in radiology centres, these tools can play a vital role in establishing fast and smooth communication with patients. Within a few minutes, doctors can easily communicate with their patients through the comfort of their computers and smartphones.

Conclusion

This was, in a nutshell, an outline of the 3 main pillars of information handling within the specific context of radiology services. They apply to independent radiology centers just as much as they apply to radiology departments working within larger medical centres such as hospitals.

Paying close attention to how medical information is handled and exchanged in a radiology facility is essential in ensuring fast, secure, and accurate service delivery. And of course, it plays a decisive role in saving patients’ lives.

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