Defining what should be monitored

The aspects of the PACS workflow that must be monitored vary according to site size, equipment, personnel, and workflows. Some possibilities are listed below.

Multiple CAD SR object can be sent to IMPAX causing it to display incorrect findings and summary information. For more information on how multiple CAD SR objects can be sent to IMPAX and how to ensure IMPAX displays the correct findings and summary information, see Troubleshooting: IMPAX displaying incorrect CAD findings and summary information.

Reports waiting to be signed off

If using IMPAX Reporting, you can set up sign-off worklists for each radiologist to facilitate the task of approving reports. You can also monitor these worklists to ensure that they are being regularly updated.

If using another reporting system, you could create a standard worklist to identify studies needing to be signed off. Use the Status criteria to find studies that are dictated, reported, or trainee dictated, but not approved, and that are a number of days old. Radiologists can use these worklists to organize reports to be approved and you can use them to monitor the progress of this task.

Handling data entry errors

Studies with incorrect data cannot be verified against the RIS. You can create a standard worklist to gather unverified studies. Checking this worklist on a regular basis allows you to verify any broken studies and quickly get them into the PACS so they can be dictated.

Identifying poor quality studies by keyword

You can set up one or more keywords that radiologists can use to identify poor-quality images. You can then set up a worklist that includes these studies. The worklist could include the Operator column.

Shared workflow

You can create worklists to find studies that are not reported or approved and are older than a specified period of time, such as one week. You can then ensure that studies are eventually dictated and/or given the correct status.